Seasons of War
by Lyoko Native
Summary: AU. A wise man, a fair princess, a colonist, a mercenary, a vanguard, a scout and an outcast join together to fight the forces of darkness and evil. But one hundred years of slumber have given it more power than ever thought possible. Current Season: Autumn
1. Summer 1

Seasons of War

by Lyoko Native

_Book 1: Summer_

_Episode 1: It Begins_

The city was in chaos.

Buildings had fallen onto people, crushing their bones, ending their lives. Women, children, animals; the dark elves were indiscriminate with their death-dealing. The men who tried to fight died horribly, and those who ran were caught under flaming pillars and broken statues. The earth itself trembled in fear, for the Matron would have no mercy on Lyoko. No, not even the world itself could stand in her way.

He felt the weight of her foot on his chest, choking him. He saw six corpses next to him, but he had no strength left to identify them. He felt life fleeing his body as he looked his murderer dead in the eyes. They were yellow, cold but blazing, cruel and unfeeling. How could anyone have such horrible eyes?

Jeremie awoke in a cold sweat, and he reached for his spectacles. He was not a big believer in 'signs' but it seemed the gods were trying to tell him something. He lit a candle and entered his mother's study, locating the Book of Dreams. He could only find abstract explanations, all dealing with his inner self. And nothing explaining the detailed, individual corpses made any sense. They called it 'a killer of happiness.' But everything in the dream had killed happiness. Why were these six strangers significant?

Jeremie closed the book and sighed. A dark elf had destroyed the city of Lyoko. What had that meant? He sighed, and he returned to bed. The dream came again, but more vivid. He saw the skyline of the city, could hear the people next to him shouting, and though he could find six distinct voices, he could not hear words. He watched as a fiery cannonball struck the castle, and he trembled as the earthquake started. He, too, started shouting, but he didn't know what he shouted.

He rolled out of bed, hitting the floor hard. He shook his head and pulled himself up as his father, Michael, ran into his bedchamber. "Jeremie, are you alright?" He asked, helping his son up off the floor, and handing him his spectacles. "By the gods, son, you gave me a fright and a half."

"I'm fine, Dad." Jeremie said, pulling himself up off the floor. Was it morning already? Yes, that was the sun's warmth coming in the dirty window. "I just… had a nightmare." He said.

"A nightmare, you say?" Michael said, directing his son to his study. "We should analyze it."

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "I already tried earlier. It was deer shit." He explained, but his father stood firm. Jeremie sighed, and he pulled a chair over to his father's desk as he pulled out his own copy of the Book of Dreams. "It starts out with the Lyoko skyline. Then we're attacked by a Matron. A dark elf, as it was. She… set the city on fire; burned the whole town. Buildings were falling, and people were dying. I saw six people. No one I'd ever seen before. They were dead, beside me. She almost killed me, too, before I woke up." He sighed. "The Book of Dreams says that it is subconscious. But I don't know. It feels personal. It felt real." He looked at his father, who had stopped searching through the pages of the Book of Dreams.

Michael turned his chair and faced his son. "Did you hear anything? See anything else? Did these people—corpses—did they say anything to you?" He asked.

Jeremie was confused. "No. They didn't. They were dead. They were screaming, but… I couldn't understand them. I couldn't understand myself." He sighed. "Why are you so interested? It was just a dream."

"Dreams have power, my son. More power than anyone wants to admit. If you would listen to your dreams, Jeremie, you would know this." Michael sighed. "There is porridge on the table. Go to the monastery after breakfast and find an enchiridion on the Warrior's final prophecy." He asked, and Jeremie stood. He dressed in his white shirt and his dark blue pants, lacing his boots tightly. He threw his mother's book back over his shoulder.

Jeremie and his father lived in an apartment in the bustling city of Lyoko, called Capital Lyoko for obvious reasons. The building was owned by the Ishiyama family. The Ishiyamas were wealthy merchants, with history in the faraway land of Nippon. They were strange, but only because their culture was so dramatically different.

The apartment was in a richer part of town, where scholars and other people lived, along with many wealthy dwarven traders. It was near the merchants' stalls. Wealthy merchants lived near the docks, nobles lived near the castle, artisans and shopkeepers lived west of the scholars. The common rabble and most of the elves lived in squalor near the city gates. Elves really had the worst of it, residing in slums. Lucky ones lived with humans as servants.

The monastery was near the Grimoire Academy. This was perhaps to entice many of the wealthy magicians to join on as priests. Jeremie walked on the cobblestone streets, waving at people he knew, most of them merchants too busy to notice him. Few people weren't too busy to notice him. He entered the monastery, lighting a candle in honor of his mother at the base of the statue to Pluto. Then, he greeted the monks, and found Brother Solaris, master of the archives. "Greetings, Brother Solaris." He said, smiling at the monk.

Brother Solaris looked up, and he smiled at the teenager. "Jeremie Belpois! My, it has been ages since I saw you here." He grabbed Jeremie's shoulders in a friendly way. "How may I help you today, my son?" He asked.

"My dad asked me to find an enchiridion on the final prophecy of the Warrior." Jeremie explained. "He told me to look here. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?" He asked.

Brother Solaris seemed confused. "An enchiridion on the final prophecy of the Warrior? Gods above, child, why on earth would he need a book like that?" The monk asked. "It is well known that the Warrior prophesized many things, but his final prophecy was… strange. No one pays it much heed."

"I'm just the messenger, Brother," Jeremie sighed.

He thought for a moment, and then waved Jeremie along. "Follow me. I think I have just what you need." The monk and the teenager moved quickly through the monastery, and into a tiny room that was not well lit. Brother Solaris pulled an ancient-looking tome off a high shelf. "This is a collection of all the prophecies of the Warrior. Read them, and you will know why we do no pay his final prophecy much attention. It is utter nonsense, child."

Jeremie thanked the monk and left the monastery. He opened the enchiridion and studied the prophecies. He remembered learning about some of them—he predicted the Lyoko victory in the Great Colony war. He predicted a sudden flood of elven refugees before that, coming from the Surface War between the elves. That was almost two hundred years ago, though. Jeremie turned to his final prophecy. It mentioned a vile darkness, and no rain, only cold snow and ice until the sun cast the darkness away. He mentioned seven people, but not by name like in other prophecies. He called these people Heroes, far greater than the Warrior Himself had been. He called them the Wise Man, the Fair, the Colonist, the Mercenary, the Vanguard, the Scout and the Outcast. Who were those people? Why were they important?

Brother Solaris had been correct after all. The Warrior's final prophecy did not make much sense. Especially not when compared to his distinct prophecies earlier, and when one took into account his mental instability near his death.

Jeremie was so absorbed in his book that he didn't see a girl standing right in front of him, and they walked right into each other. He looked up over the edge of the tome and saw green eyes staring back at him. He took a step back and looked face-to-face with a wild elf. Her hair was pink, like roses, and her face and arms were decorated with light pink markings. She wore a loose magenta vest and matching miniskirt, with bandages wrapped up her legs. "Ir abelas," She apologized in her native tongue, and she walked around him. He watched her leave, and something inside of him told him to go after her.

But he didn't. He let her go.

Jeremie returned to the apartment, and he gave his father the enchiridion. "Thank you," He said, and he opened to the pages about the final prophecy. "Yes, it as I suspected." Michael said, studying the pages. "You have been chosen, my son. Be proud." Michael smiled, and he presented the book back to him. Jeremie was obviously confused.

"Dad, I don't know what you're talking about." Jeremie said.

"How can you not know? You read the prophecy, didn't you?" Michael asked. Jeremie nodded, and Michael explained, "Your dream matches the prophecy in the enchiridion. You have been chosen to be one of the Heroes!"

Jeremie laughed. "You're crazy." He said. Michael rolled his eyes.

* * *

As daytime started to fade, Ulrich Stern met up with Odd Della-Robbia in the gymnasium for combat practice. As he entered, Odd nearly pinned him to a target with an arrow. "Odd! Watch it!" Ulrich shouted. The half-elf shrugged, laughing. Ulrich rolled his eyes. They'd known each other since they were three, and were the best of best friends. This meant they knew how to push each other's buttons.

"What's the word, hummingbird?" Odd asked as Ulrich threw his bag down on the floor. He let loose another arrow, and it landed perfectly in the bull's eye. He straightened his purple vest, and dusted his purple pants. He wore tall purple boots, and tall metal gauntlets with sharp claws. Ulrich had opted not to wear his typical Eastern finery, and instead wore simple white robes. He had a black belt wrapped around his waist. He began practicing his martial arts, dubbed Pencak Silat, on a dummy made of straw.

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "My parents are still trying to get me to decide on a suitor," He complained, "The worst part is that they're pushing me towards Sissi Delmas!" He shouted.

Odd shook his head. "By Venus's sanctified tits, can't your parents see you're hopelessly in love with Yumi Ishiyama?" He teased.

Ulrich kicked the dummy so hard it was sent flying into the wall and then spun around to face his friend of thirteen years. "I am not in love with Yumi!" He shouted, and Odd raised his hands. "And even if I was, our families are economic rivals!" He admitted off-handedly.

Odd cupped his hands and fluttered his eyes. "Just like Romulus and Julia!" He cooed.

Ulrich rolled his eyes again before trying to fix the dummy. "Those idiots knew each other for a week," He mocked.

Odd snickered. "Time never stopped anyone before," He muttered. He prepared an arrow, and let it loose. It struck the exact same place, slicing the first arrow down the middle. Odd saw this and cheered. "Suck my dick, Sparrow Cloak!" He shouted.

"Odd, put it away," A feminine voice called. The boys turned to see Yumi Ishiyama standing in the doorway. She wore her white robes too, and her black belt. She smiled as she approached them. Odd rolled his eyes. "Ulrich, are you ready to take me on?" She asked, cocksure.

Ulrich smirked. "I'm always ready." He taunted. The two fighters prepared, and they began to spar. Yumi bowed, and then the fight was on. There were punches and kicks, and Yumi flipped up into the air. "That was pretty good, for a beginner." Ulrich taunted. Yumi responded by kicking him in the face. Then, she easily pinned him. They blushed, and stood when Odd started cheering.

"You got beat up by a girl!" Odd laughed, and Ulrich grabbed his shoe and threw it, nearly hitting Odd's head. "Hey, watch it! Someone could get seriously hurt."

Ulrich's eyebrow twitched, but he took a deep breath and looked at Yumi. "Hey, what took you so long?"

"Don't be childish, Ulrich. I was just running behind." Yumi sighed. "I stopped to talk to William and Princess Laura. She'd finished her studies at the Academy and was headed back to the castle." She shook her head. "She said something strange, too; something about a prophecy being fulfilled. That girl is stranger than Odd." She teased.

"No one," Ulrich laughed, "is stranger than Odd."

* * *

"Papa, I'm not joking! I saw it!" Princess Laura Gauthier pleaded with the King. The King shook his head. "Papa, I looked into the pool and I saw ash, and smoke, and fire!" Laura followed her father through the castle. "We're going to be attacked! Papa! We must prepare!"

The King finally stopped avoiding her. "Laura, we are not going to be attacked! We have repaired relations with Nippon and are not under threat of colonization. The wilder elves have quietly resigned to nomadic lifestyles and those in our cities are converts and productive citizens. The drow have been dormant for a century at least, now." He crossed his arms. "There is the occasional raid by orcs, but that is nothing our Rangers and soldiers cannot handle."

Laura shook her head. "What if you're wrong? I divined the future, Papa! We are in terrible danger!"

"Laura, I have had enough of this nonsense!" The King shouted. "We are not in danger! Now leave me in peace." He closed the door to his bedchambers.

Laura huffed and pushed a blond hair from her face. She wore a light blue sleeveless shirt, a silver belt with pearls, dark blue pants and boots. Her armlets were silver, and she had white-gold bracelets on. Without her navy hood pulled up, you could see the pearls in her ears. Laura turned and stomped away, furious at her father for his disbelief. He had never trusted her magic, for he believed it came from what he called 'mistakes of the Dreamers.' In more technical terms, he meant 'demons.' So he dismissed all of her predictions, even though many had come true.

The princess stormed into the library, where she startled William Dendar, her personal bodyguard. William was a dark elf, or a drow, but other than his mischievous nature, he didn't much act like a dark elf. He was a genuinely happy person. His skin was ashen, and his hair blue-black. His eyes were red like the fire of the Brazier. He wore commissioned white armor, light but protective. He also wielded a Zweihänder, a sword tracing its origins to Deutschland, in the north. "By the blood of the Creation Father, princess, you gave me quite a scare!" William laughed.

Laura threw up her hands. "He didn't believe me! Can you believe that? I told him of the divination and he refused it!" She tore at her hair.

William tried to help. "Maybe it won't come true. You said it yourself; the future is never certain." He offered.

She shook her head. "No. This was too vivid to be a false vision. Too many people were dead. The fire was too hot. No, this is going to happen." She looked up at him in determination. "We should go to the monastery and ask if they have any prophecies that match the vision I divined."

When the sun had vanished for the evening, Laura and William snuck out of the castle and found their way to the monastery. Laura looked for the master of the archives, Brother Solaris. "Brother, I am looking for a book or a scroll or something that divines Capital Lyoko's doom by fire." She declared, approaching the monk.

Brother Solaris seemed confused. "There seems to be quite a bit of interest in that prophecy as of late. I apologize, my princess, but there is only one enchiridion on that prophecy, and it has already been borrowed."

Laura narrowed her eyes. "Already borrowed by whom?"

* * *

Dhaune, a slave to House Kenval, looked nervously at the sleeping Matron. For one hundred years, Xana Kenval had slumbered, waiting for the chance to strike. Sinae had spoken—tonight was the night. Dhaune raised her arm to her mouth and bit her own wrist open, being allowed no dagger, and when she tasted the copper and iron of her blood, she held it to the Matron's lips.

Seven drops of Dhaune's blood slid into Xana's mouth. The Matron's yellow eyes opened, and color returned to her blue-black cheeks. She sat up, ran her fingers through her white hair, and noticed Dhaune. "Fetch me my dressings, slave. The ones gathered from that wilder witch—you know the ones that look like they are from the surface?" Dhaune was surprised to be in the presence of the one and only Xana. Dhaune was but an ugly child in her presence. She had ashen skin, but it was blotched white in some places on her face, and her eyes were green and accented her golden hair, both traits suggesting she had wilder blood. Perhaps, she noted bitterly, this was why Sinae had chosen her. Xana stood, and Dhaune rushed to gather the robes. Dhaune dressed the Matron, and then she brushed her hair. "Tell me, slave; what day is today?"

Dhaune struggled. "Today is the eleventh day of Matrinalis, in the eighth year of the Guardian." It was Sunday, Justinian 11th, 5:08 Guardian. She scolded herself for not just say that. Xana didn't seem to notice, which was a blessing.

"An entire age has passed. By the Destruction Mother, I slumbered for one hundred years." Xana walked over to the steps and looked out over her city, looking at the dark elves as they scurried about to make the city presentable. "How long before we make our move against the surface? Are the soldiers and magicians prepared?" She asked.

"Overseer Sinae said that we are at your disposal." Dhaune said.

Xana smiled her evil smile and summoned her necklace. It was carved with the Eye of Xana, symbol of House Kenval. She put it on, and it turned from coal black to teal blue. "That is excellent news. Then we shall begin our movement tonight. Will you join me, slave?" She asked.

Dhaune smiled wide. "It would be my honor, Matron Mother."

* * *

A/N: Okay, before you say, "You said you weren't going to put up much Code Lyoko stuff anymore," yeah, I remember saying that. But I also lie a lot. So there. Also, let me clear some things up. The elven language and the dates come from Thedas, the setting of Dragon Age (However, the 6th and 8th months are switched. Matrinalis is the sixth month, common Justinian, and the 8th month is Ferventis, common August.). However, the drow names come from the Forgotten Realms. The human gods are obviously Roman.


	2. Summer 2

_Episode 2: It Resumes_

12th of Matrinalis, Monday

William slicked back his hair before he knocked on the door to the Ishiyama estate. It was traditional Nihonjin design, as it was elevated slightly off the ground and had curved thatched roofs. Takeho Ishiyama answered the door, and he seemed surprised to find an elf at his door. "Good morning, Mr. Ishiyama. Is Yumi here?" William asked.

Takeho thought for a moment, but nodded. "Yes, she's in her room."

"I'm not here for a social call," William sighed. "I'm here on business." He explained.

"I suppose you are employed by the King. Very well," Takeho stepped aside to allow William inside. Before entering, he removed his shoes.

Yumi was inside, practicing her telekinesis. Despite her mastery of most Nihonjin weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, Yumi struggled with her telekinesis. She sat on the opposite side of the room and tried to lift a rag doll dressed as a geisha. When she heard a knock, she dropped the doll and opened the door, this time with her hands. "Hello, William. I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Yumi smiled. "What's up?"

William smiled back. "I'm not here for a social call, like I told your dad. I'm here to ask you something on behalf of Princess Laura."

Yumi's face became stone. "What is it?" She asked.

"Do you know anyone named Jeremie Belpois?" He asked.

She thought for a while. "I remember my dad talking about a Michael Belpois, a tenet in one of our buildings, because his wife died a few years back during one of the orc raids. It was very sad." She mulled that in her head for a moment. "In fact, they may have had a son. But I've never met him if he did." Yumi looked William in the eyes. "Why are you looking for Jeremie Belpois?"

William shrugged. "Princess Laura has gotten it into her head that Capital Lyoko will be attacked and we're all going to die and she thinks Jeremie Belpois has the one book that can decipher her divination." He laughed.

Yumi flinched. "Oh gods, that does not sound good." She said. She motioned for William to move, and she walked past him. "Come on, we'll go get Laura and find the Belpois apartment."

"Laura is in the carriage, just outside." William said, following Yumi. She informed her parents she was leaving, and the two entered Laura's carriage. "Yumi believes she knows where to find Jeremie, Princess."

Laura smiled. "Oh, do you truly know?" She said excitedly. "Where are we headed then?"

"We're headed near the market stalls." She said, and Laura gave instructions to the driver.

* * *

Laura knocked politely on the door of the Belpois apartment. Michael answered the door, and when he saw the princess, he bowed. "Your Highness. To what do I owe this honor?" He asked, and she motioned for him to stand, and she entered the apartment. William and Yumi entered behind her.

She looked around and noticed many bookshelves. Michael was obviously devoted to his studies. "Your son borrowed a book from the monastery. I need it to decipher a divination." Laura explained. She saw a painting of the family while the mother was still alive.

"Oh. Are you talking about the enchiridion on the Warrior's last prophecy?" Michael asked. Laura nodded. "Yes, I had him collect that book. He had a nightmare, and it reminded me of the prophecy. He didn't see the connections I did, however." He admitted.

Laura cocked her head to the side. "He saw Lyoko burning?" She asked.

"Yes." Michael said.

"May I speak with him?"

A few minutes later, Jeremie appeared and handed Laura the enchiridion. "I'm not sure what this is all about." He admitted.

Laura opened the enchiridion. "You see, William? The Warrior predicted the same thing that I divined!" She pointed to the prophecy. "Lyoko will be attacked! I don't know when, why or by whom, but we must evacuate!" She declared.

"Laura, if you don't know when the attack will be, then your father will never agree to evacuate!" William argued. He took the book from her. "Look here. He talks about Heroes. Maybe if we find them, they can prevent the attack." He reasoned.

"If Jeremie dreamed about the attack before even you could divine it, Laura, wouldn't it make sense that he is a Hero?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie raised his hands up defensively. "No, I'm not a hero. I can barely lift my sword." Jeremie found that the opportunity to be a hero was exciting to think about however. Hadn't his father suggested something similar? "And how would you know if I was a hero? There is nothing in there that suggests how to find them."

Laura looked around and found a bowl. She poured water into it and waved her wand over it. Her wand was elegantly designed—it burned incense, and was made of steel—and the water became cloudy. She summoned embers, which still burned even while floating on the water. "Show me the Heroes," She bid, and the water spun, and smoke columned up, filling the room.

In a lighter cloud of smoke, full color images began to appear. The first was Jeremie, the second Laura, then Yumi, then a boy with brown hair. "That's Ulrich!" Yumi pointed out. The fifth picture was William, and the sixth was of a blond with pointed hair. "And there's Odd!" The final picture was of a wild elf with pink hair. "I don't recognize her. Do any of you?"

Jeremie nodded. "I bumped into her yesterday on my way home. We didn't talk, but… you don't forget someone like her." He said. Laura looked at him briefly before clearing the room of smoke.

"So we can find six of the Heroes easily." Laura said, and she added, "Mostly because four of them are us, but that isn't important. How do we find the elf?" She asked.

"Perhaps the smoke gave us the Heroes in order. After all, the Outcast is listed last, and the one person no one could recognize came last." Jeremie suggested.

Laura followed his line of thinking. "That would make you the Wise Man, and you might be able to telepathically give her instructions to meet us at a disclosed location!" She suggested.

Yumi looked up at Jeremie. "Want to give it a go, Jeremie?"

Jeremie sighed. "I could try."

Laura smiled. "There is a ball tonight at the castle. Get her name and tell her to meet us there." She instructed.

He wasn't sure if he could, but he closed his eyes and pictured the elf in his head. He pictured her eyes, peeking just over the enchiridion. Then, he saw Sissi Delmas, a noblewoman with black hair and light blue eyes. He then saw a floor, and a hand with pink markings rise, as if to hold his head, but he felt nothing. He realized that he was seeing through the elf's eyes.

"What's wrong? You look ill." Sissi asked. Her voices sounded echoed, as if he were underwater.

"Ir abelas, mistress. I feel something inside of me…" The elf said. So she did speak Common. Her voice was pleasant, even if it was distorted.

Jeremie took a deep breath. "Listen to me very closely. We know you to be one of the Heroes prophesized by the Warrior. Go to the castle tonight. Tell me your name, and I'll make sure you gain entry." He thought. He hoped that was how he was to communicate with her.

The elf looked up, and Sissi stood with her hands on her hips. "What do you mean something is inside of you? Are you under the influence of blood magic?" She asked.

"No, mistress, it just feels like someone is talking to me." The elf said. Then, she spoke clearly, and Jeremie realized that she was responding. "My name is Aelita Stone-Hopper." She thought, and then she severed the connection. Jeremie opened his eyes.

"Well?" Yumi asked. "Did you find her? Who is she?"

"Her name is Aelita Stone-Hopper. I think she's employed by Sissi Delmas," Jeremie explained.

William looked at nothing in particular. "That poor girl," He said sympathetically.

Laura stood. "Well, I hope I'll see you all tonight at the ball. We have to find a way to prevent Lyoko from burning." She said, and she motioned for William to follow her. Yumi stood and followed them out, waving good-bye to Jeremie as she went.

* * *

Ulrich knocked on Odd's door in his home. "Odd? Odd, Yumi invited us to some party at the castle. Apparently Princess Laura wants us there." Ulrich waited for a reply, but heard nothing. "Odd? Odd, I'm coming in." Ulrich opened the door to find Samantha Sanchez, an artist with long blond hair, straightening her skirt.

She looked up and laughed nervously. "Hello, Stern. It was nice seeing you, but I really have to go. My parents are expecting me." Sanchez apologized, and she pushed past him.

Ulrich rolled his eye because Odd had done it again. The half-elf's voice came from the room. "There are days I hate you." He called out. A few moments later, Odd appeared. "We need to establish some ground rules about you coming into my house uninvited."

"You say that every time, and yet there are still no ground rules and I still constantly walk in on you." Ulrich said flippantly.

Odd held up a finger. "I resent that! If I got half as much action as you claim I do, the poor thing would either fall off or be whittled down to about this big!" He held his fingers less than five centimeters apart. Ulrich held up his hands defensively. This was not a conversation he wanted to have. Odd was a playboy, and a 'swinger' on top of that, so he was occasionally brought men and women over to his house. But, Ulrich hadn't started teasing him about it until he walked in on Odd with a dwarf in drag. Odd didn't recommend that.

"Anyway," Ulrich said, "Princess Laura told Yumi that she wants us to attend the ball tonight. Yumi mentioned something about Heroes and a prophecy." He shrugged.

"That explains why you look so fancy." Odd noted. Ulrich had changed into Eastern finery. His vest was yellow, and he and gone through great lengths to make his boots and leather bracers look presentable. "Yeah, let me go get ready." Odd entered his room and came out a few minutes later in a bright purple vest, a white shirt with purple sleeves and tight purple pants. He strapped his bow to his back and attached his quiver to his side.

The two teens met with Yumi outside of the castle. She was in a black-and-red kimono, and she wore a yellow obi. She had painted her face and put her hair up, and her mother had even woven flowers into it. "Gods above, Yumi, you… you look good." Ulrich blushed. Yumi probably blushed too, but it was covered by her face paint.

"Ulrich, that line was butter." Odd mocked. Ulrich glared at him.

"We have to wait for another person," Yumi said, looking up at the clock tower. Then, she waved to someone running towards them from a figure running towards them. "Jeremie, we're over here!" A boy with blond hair and spectacles ran up in a navy blue vest, white shirt, a brown overcoat and navy blue pants. He wore brown boots.

"Sorry I'm late," Jeremie apologized. "Then these are…?" He asked, looking at Ulrich and Odd.

Yumi nodded. "Yes. These are the ones I told you about."

Jeremie offered them his hand. Ulrich shook it, while Odd seized Jeremie's spectacles and looked through them. "Please be careful. I need those to see," Jeremie warned. Odd shrugged and gave them back. "I'll tell you what I can, because I'm not sure what is safe to tell. The two of you, me, Yumi, William Dendar, Princess Laura and Aelita Stone-Hopper are Heroes. Laura believes that we can save Lyoko from burning if we work together, so she's called us all here tonight."

"Us? Heroes?" Odd laughed. "I'm pretty sure my dog Kiwi in chainmail is more heroic than you. No offense, Jeremie." He apologized though giggles.

Jeremie laughed in spite of himself. "None taken," He admitted.

Ulrich looked up. "How do you know that we're Heroes?" He asked.

Yumi tried to explain. "Laura did something to a bowl of water, and she asked it to show us the Heroes. Smoke plumed up and filled the room, and we saw pictures of us, and the elf Jeremie mentioned. Besides, Jeremie was able to make a psychic connection with the elf, and with me, to inform me that he was on his way." Her face twisted in confusion. "Still, we don't know when the attack will happen. Laura wants us to be prepared regardless."

The four teens entered the castle, and the guard checked their names on the list. They mingled for a bit, not wanting to look suspicious. Jeremie looked around for Laura and William, but found no trace of them. Then he saw Aelita, and he felt his breath leave his body.

She wore a long pink dress with archaic elven designs, and over the dress was a light blue transparent overskirt. Her shoulders were exposed, and she wore transparent magenta gloves. She looked around, clearly trying to locate someone. Jeremie jumped a little when he realized that she was looking for him. He walked over to her, and she spotted him. They met halfway. "Andaran atish'an, stranger. You don't look like someone who belongs in this crowd, if you don't mind me saying so." The wild elf said, smiling.

Jeremie laughed. "Neither do you," He pointed out. She shrugged. "You are Aelita Stone-Hopper, correct? I believe we've spoken before. My name is Jeremie Belpois."

Aelita's eyes lit up. "Oh! Are you the one who told me to meet you here?" She asked.

"Yes, that was me." Jeremie nodded. He motioned to the back wall. "Perhaps we should move to someplace more private? I have some people I'd like you to meet." She seemed hesitant, and he looked around. He saw Yumi, and closed his eyes. "Can you come and set her at ease?" He asked telepathically. She looked around and located them, and walked over.

Yumi offered Aelita her hand. "Hi, my name is Yumi. Jeremie asked me to reassure you that he isn't going to hurt you." Aelita seemed confused, and she added, "Don't worry; we'll explain everything once Princess Laura and William are here."

They walked over to the back wall, and were soon joined by Ulrich and Odd. "So, this is Aelita Stone-Hopper, eh?" Odd said, leaning against the wall. "I have to admit, you are a real cutie. The gods have taste." He flirted. Jeremie rolled his eyes in annoyance, and Ulrich picked up the half-elf and moved him away from Aelita.

"I think you've had enough for today, Della-Robbia," Ulrich said flatly.

Odd looked off into the distance. "Cut me off of my fun, will you? I'll remember this."

Aelita took a few steps away from the wall, and she faced the four teens that surrounded her. "Will someone please tell me what is going on?" She asked. "Who are all of you? How can you communicate with me inside of my head? Why did you invite me to this party?"

They looked at each other. "We're Heroes that have been chosen to protect Lyoko. And you are one of us, Aelita. Princess Laura believes that we are to protect Capital Lyoko from an upcoming attack." Jeremie explained.

"We all just found out about this." Ulrich admitted. "But we've been called to duty, and we are to respond." He put a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

Aelita didn't seem too pleased about the idea of protecting humans, but she looked the others in the eyes, and her expression softened. A fanfare sounded, and Princess Laura entered with William just behind her. Laura wore a black ball gown with sky blue layers. William was in simple black leather armor, with white accents. She waited patiently as she was announced, and then located the rest of the group. She ran over to them. "So you found the elf, did you?" She asked Jeremie.

"I'm right here," Aelita pointed out. Laura waved her off.

"Good. Then we can begin discussing our plans to defend the city." Laura said.

* * *

Capital Lyoko sat near where the river met the sea. The castle sat in front of the ocean, and since Lyoko either owned land over the sea or was on friendly terms with coastal countries, this was an ideal location for defense. Xana looked over the city and studied it. "If we acquire ships, we can attack from the ocean, destroying the King and crippling their military defenses." She mused, "Though I do not think that the King would see us as non-hostiles." Xana relaxed in her sedan chair, and then she ordered the slaves to put her down. She exited the chamber, and approached Overseer Sinae, the elderly drow slave master. "Prepare the catapults."

"Yes, Matron Mother." Sinae complied and lit the boulders for the catapults on fire. "Launch!" Sinae ordered, and the army fired the catapults.

* * *

A huge crash could be heard from the gate. The ground trembled, and the group looked up at each other. "What was that?" Yumi asked, struggling to stay standing in her impractical shoes.

"Oh, gods," Jeremie muttered. He shook his head. "The drow are attacking!" He declared.

"Right now?" Laura asked. "But we aren't ready!"

Ulrich tried to gain his balance despite his vertigo. "We'll have to make ready!"

Jeremie agreed. "Laura, William, the two of you should prepare here. The rest of us will evacuate as many people as we can to the ships!"

As Laura and William ran from the room, the others headed back out to the city, evacuating their respective parts of town. Odd, as he left, muttered, "It is official. Monday can suck my balls."


	3. Summer 3

_Episode 3: the Burning City_

In a matter of minutes, Capital Lyoko had gone from a prosperous city to a flaming ruin. Everyone hurried for the docks, frantic to secure a spot on an outgoing boat for their families. Opportunists used this to make coin, cheating families out of their entire life's savings. And they paid these outlandish prices, because after all, who could put a price on life? William tried his best to root out these people, but too many people were left with nothing. Too many people ran from the docks to find another way out of the city. Chaos was abounding.

Laura argued with her father, who wanted her on a boat. She blatantly refused, claiming it was her destiny to stay and fight. "Minerva's mercy, Laura; even if you are some Hero of legend, are you truly saving anyone if you stay and fight? You'll die!" The King argued.

"If we do not stand and fight these villains, we'll all die!" She argued. The King tried to order guards to put her on a ship, but when they neared her, she summoned fire and created distance enough for her to flee, with William ever on her tail. They exchanged hasty glances, and hoped that the others fared better.

* * *

Ulrich wandered around the noble's district, making as much noise as he could. Whenever possible, he threw rocks at windows, breaking them to cause a stir within otherwise dark houses. Nobles, he'd concluded, were some of the thickest people he'd ever met. And he was glad that he didn't know many of them.

With a huge crash, part of Lyoko's wall tumbled down, crushing many noble's homes, and Ulrich hoped that they weren't as thick as to sleep through repeated strikes on the wall. Dark elves climbed over the rubble, and Ulrich realized that he could never take on that many. He leapt over the gate of a home, and saw far too late that he approached the Delmas estate. He broke the lock anyway, and barricaded the door. Sissi, during one of their parents' repeated attempts to bring them together, had mentioned an escape that leads to the Market District. He pushed rugs and pictures up off the floor and off the walls, searching for the escape route. "Ulrich dear?" A feminine voice behind him called, and Ulrich spun with his katanna drawn. He relaxed when he saw it was Sissi.

"First things first, Delmas," Ulrich said, sheathing his blade. "I'm not your 'Ulrich dear.' Secondly, I need you to show me to the escape hatch. You should wake your parents and escape with them, while I'm thinking of it." He instructed.

"My parents aren't here," Sissi grinned. "If you come with me, I'll show you the escape and more." She flirted shamelessly.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this, Sissi. Lyoko is under attack!" Ulrich shouted. Voices could be heard from the other side of the barricade. Ulrich ushered Sissi to the stairs, and he drew his katanna. Two drow soldiers forced their way through the door. Ulrich engaged them, taking the first one on head on, their swords clacking as they parried. The second soldier tried to attack Ulrich from behind, but Ulrich kicked him with a flourish, sending him face-first into the railing on the stairs. Sissi screeched, and she pulled a sword off the wall. Sissi stabbed the unconscious drow while Ulrich disarmed his opponent and drove his katanna through his gut. Ulrich saw more drow running towards them. "Sissi, more are coming! Grab that sword and show me to the escape hatch!" He ordered.

Sissi complied, struggling as she tried to remove the sword from the dead elf's throat. She ran up the stairs while Ulrich sliced at the dark elves that tried to attack them. Sissi led him to her father's study, and while she tried to open the hatch behind the bookshelf. Ulrich tried his best to protect the noble's daughter. One of the drow poured lantern oil on the floor, and then dropped a match in it. The wooden floors quickly lit, and Sissi screamed. Ulrich ran and opened the hatch himself, and he threw the noble through it. He ran through the drow who approached the escape hatch, and then jumped inside when they were all dead.

Sissi grabbed a torch from the wall. "What's going to happen to us?" She asked, her voice shaking from fear.

"You're going to the docks to get on a boat out of this gods-forsaken city," Ulrich ordered, sheathing his katanna and taking the torch. "I'm going to find my friends, and we're going to try our best to stop this from going any further."

* * *

Odd watched the sky as the smoke plumed. He noticed the moon, and he took note that it was a few days from being full. He grabbed a couple of pots from a porch and clapped them, causing as much noise as he could. His parents were among those fleeing, and they tried to convince him to flee with him. "No, please. Save your tears, guys," He said, holding his mother's chin up. She looked down at her feet. "Don't worry about me, Mom. I promise that I'll survive. Get yourselves to safety."

He waved good-bye to his parents while directing the others out of the district. Odd saw a statue fall from the wall, and it landed on top of a crowd. He rushed toward them, and he tried to help some of the victims out from under the fallen statue. One of his sisters, Marie, appeared to have been crushed in the fall. She wasn't moving. Odd rushed to her, and she didn't even flinch. He checked her pulse, but couldn't find it. He hung his head, mourning her, and he grabbed coins from his pocket and put them on her eyes.

A sudden rain of arrows fell, and he jumped away. He drew an arrow, and he fired it. Even at a distance, it hit on of the drow archers in the eye. He killed the others in a similar way, nearly taking an arrow to the knee when one of the newer recruits misfired in panic. He searched the wall for more archers, but finding none, he studied the arrow. "Any closer and this could've destroyed my career as an adventurer." He noted. He placed it in his quiver, for it was of fine make. He said a prayer for his family, and then searched for more survivors.

* * *

Yumi could see another ship as it sailed towards the overseas Lyoko territory. Living near the coast had given many of the other families in her neighborhood an opportunity to flee on their own ships, and some were even kind enough to allow others on their ship. Yumi had, like the others, run home and gathered her things, and was now armed to the teeth. She was headed now towards the Market District, feeling in her bones that she was supposed to go there.

She felt something tug at her skirt. "Yumi! Don't go!" A little boy demanded.

Yumi turned. "Hiroki, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Mom and Dad?" She asked, getting down on eye level with her younger brother.

"You'll get yourself killed! Please, you have to escape with us!" Hiroki pleaded.

"Don't fuss over me, little brother. There are more important things on the line than my life. Go, now." Yumi said, hugging him. He lingered in her arms a moment to long, and then screamed. Yumi realized they were being attacked and used herself as a human shield to protect her brother. A lightning bolt struck her shoulder, which hurt immensely, but she fought through it.

Yumi targeted her foes. There were four of them, including the magician who had struck her. There were two soldiers and an archer. She threw three kunai at the magician, striking in his chest. He stumbled back, though he didn't seem to be dead. She used this opportunity to hide her brother in a crevice between two fallen buildings. The soldiers attacked, and Yumi drew her bo staff. She twirled it so rapidly even the arrows from the archer could not penetrate it. She grinned, and took on the soldiers. The first was easily deposed of through three strikes to his face, but upon doing so, her staff broke.

But Yumi was not unprepared. She reached behind her and pulled her Tessen fans from her obi. She flicked them open, and she taunted the soldier. The soldier tried to strike her skull with his mace, but Yumi was more skilled. She blocked his attack with her arms, struck his neck with her iron fan and then, as he stumbled away, she kicked his jaw. He fell to the ground, and Yumi stomped on his neck, snapping it.

She spun around quickly, blocking an arrow with her fan. Yumi locked eyes with the archer, who now stood between her and the magician. Her shoulder still throbbing, Yumi fought the pain and threw her fans, striking his neck on both sides, essentially killing him. But now, she was left with no further weapons, except kunai, but she didn't enjoy using those.

The magician used his bleeding chest as a power source, and he raised his fallen comrades. Yumi jumped inside the open window of the Fukui estate. She ran around inside, and she locked a door when she found a suitable hiding place. She bandaged her aching shoulder, and looked around. She found a Nihonjin sickle with an iron weight and chain in a weapons case, and she spun it around. She'd never really used chain weapons before, but it wouldn't take long to master if her life was on the line.

The reanimated corpses broke down the door, and Yumi spun the chain to disarm them. She knocked them off their feet, and one by one she smashed the heads of the zombies using the sickle.

She flipped her hair back, and she searched for the magician. She dropped the sickle and grabbed her fans, and soon learned that the magician was gone. Yumi sighed, and she sheathed her fans. "Hiroki, you can come out now." She called, approaching the crevice. But Hiroki was gone. She panicked, and realized that the magician had kidnapped her brother. She leaned against the fallen building, ashamed of her failure and panicked for her brother.

* * *

Unlike the others, Aelita did not have to warn the elves. They lived near the city gates and heard the fighting just as it begun. She instead packed up her things, and she helped escort anyone who needed it away from the burning walls. She saw a child struggling under a fallen statue. She ran to him, and when she could not pull him out, she took three steps back and summoned her magic.

Aelita had a deep and complex understanding of old magic. She could manipulate stone, ice and plant life, as well as summon animal spirits from Bellanaris, meaning 'eternity', what the wild elves called the realm of spirits. She focused on the marble statue, and she lifted it up off the ground. The child crawled out, but his leg was so damaged that he couldn't stand. Aelita picked him up, and she looked sadly at his leg. "What is your name?" She asked.

The boy pushed his brown hair from his face. "My name is Johnny," He said, holding her neck for dear life.

Aelita held out her hand, her palm facing out. "Elgar'halla bellanaris," she called, summoning a deer from Bellanaris. It appeared at her command, and it bowed respectively as she placed Johnny on its back. "This deer is a friend. He will take you to the docks, and there you can find a doctor and a ship out of the city." She bid the deer to stand. Johnny was amazed at the spirit—clearly it was incorporeal, but still it supported his weight. "Dareth shiral, da'len," She said, and she ordered the deer to run.

* * *

Jeremie had not found his father. In fact, he hadn't found anyone. He grabbed his mithril chain shoulder piece, and he found his mother's old shield, Barricade. He strapped the shoulder piece on and the shield to his back. He grabbed valuable books from the bookshelf, like the Book of Dreams and the Warrior's enchiridion, as well as several others. He stored them in his bag, and he rushed down the stairs to find himself surrounded not by drow but monsters. Some were small and yellow, resembling cockroaches. Others were large and red, like crabs. "These are dark elf constructs!" He exclaimed, his scholar roots taking hold. He jumped when one of the crab-like constructs tried to stab him. He drew his sword and shield. He carried the shield with his left arm, as he carried his sword with his right. He sliced at the monsters, striking at the symbols on their heads on the smaller monsters, and wounding the legs of those taller than him.

When he saw an opening, he ran, for he was not a fool. He ran straight into a cube-shaped monster, which fired a laser at his shoulder. Luckily it struck mithril, and Jeremie punched the monster with all his strength using his left hand. He may not have been strong, but mithril was stronger than steel, and his punch no doubt caused the construct a lot of pain.

He was forced into a market stall by another laser that struck him in the back. He sat in pain, and he turned. One of the red crabs had stalked him. Out of nowhere Ulrich jumped on it, and he drove his katanna into the symbol on its head. When the monster fell, Ulrich jumped into the market stall and helped Jeremie bandage his wounds. "Belpois, I think you need more practice." The Mercenary joked.

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "I'm the son of a scholar, not a fighter." He justified.

"If we survive all of this, I'll give you some pointers." Ulrich said. They stood, and they soon saw that they were surrounded by drow and constructs. "So much for those pointers," Ulrich sighed.

A column fell onto the ambush, killing all but one of the roaches. A rock launched at it, sending it down into the well. "You boys looked like you were in a bit of trouble. I hoped I didn't spoil your fun." A feminine voice teased. Aelita peaked around the market stall, smiling.

Jeremie sighed with relief. "You have no idea how much trouble we were in. Ulrich couldn't have taken on that many opponents, and I am…" His voice trailed off.

"Almost completely useless in a fight," Ulrich finished. He patted Aelita's shoulder. "Nice save there, kitten." He complimented. Her smile grew.

Aelita looked to Jeremie. "Maybe we should call the others. I don't think there's anyone left in the city, unless we want to go searching through the sewers." She said.

Odd, who had run up just in time to hear this, laughed despite being almost out of breath. "Who would willingly go through the sewers? That's just gross," He joked.

She shrugged. "I hear it is a wonderful way to get around without being seen." She said.

Jeremie closed his eyes, contacting Yumi, Laura and William. "The others are almost here. I don't think we should go far."

Ulrich looked around at the abandoned stalls. "We should gather as many supplies as we can. I don't think we're getting out of this city on a boat, and the merchants won't mind us… borrowing these things." He said, collecting potions off the shelves. He also grabbed a backpack.

"Normally, I wouldn't condone stealing, but this is hardly stealing, isn't it?" Jeremie said. He started walking, though with an obvious limp. "Aelita, you're a magician, right? You must be, seeing as how you toppled the column. Are you a healer?"

"By the Creator, no!" She exclaimed, shaking her hands. "You don't want me to heal you. Whenever I try, something goes… wrong. If you need any more stone columns toppled, or if you need a tree or something, however, I'm here." She laughed nervously.

He smiled weakly. "We'll probably need food, tents, a map and potions. Split up, but don't go too far." Jeremie ordered, and the three other teens began searching the stalls.

Laura and William appeared soon after, and the princess ran to Jeremie's side. "Are you injured?" She asked. He nodded, and she began healing his wound. "I'm sorry it took so long for us to get here. We had to push past hordes of people, and many of the main walkways are blocked." She looked up for a brief moment to find Aelita staring at her. Even at a distance, she could feel the malice. Laura smirked, and kept healing. "You should be alright, for now."

"Thank you, Laura." He stood, his pain dimmed.

William spoke next. "How long do we have before they find us here?" He asked.

"Not long. Aelita crushed a lot of them under this column," the Wise Man said, and William took a step away from it. "There aren't just drow in this army. They've created constructs."

Laura didn't seem surprised. "My father spoke of their use of constructs in the Surface War. I'm not surprised they've resorted to blood magic again." She said.

Finally, Yumi stumbled into the market, bleeding through her bandages and dark eyes puffy from crying. Both William and Ulrich ran to catch her as she stumbled, but it was Ulrich who managed to catch her. Laura prepared to heal her shoulder. "The dark elves took Hiroki. I can't believe it. Gods, I told him to go with Mom and Dad! Why didn't he listen?" She cried, and the others comforted her.

No one tried to compete for who felt the most pain. What was worse—to lose someone who had been in your arms only moments earlier, or to find them dead, or to not find them at all? They mourned together.

Laura broke the silence. "I've healed your shoulder, Yumi." She said, and she looked to the others. "We can't go to the docks. They're running out of ships."

"Is there another way out of the city?" Aelita asked.

William nodded. "My family home has a secret passage that leads out to the Scarwood Forest." He said, helping Ulrich bring Yumi to her feet. "It is a bit of a walk, but I don't think the dark elves will attack us there."

Yumi stood up, brushing off the boys. With Yumi on her feet and supplies in tow, the teens began their trip to the Dendar estate.

* * *

A/N: For those of you who question it, yes, it is totally possible for a bo staff to block arrows when in the hands of a master. Yumi is the resident weapons' master, so it is possible for her to spin it at a high enough speed to deflect arrows. Her fan is made of iron, which can also deflect arrows, though the argument could be made that it isn't as effective.


	4. Summer 4

_Episode 4: Embers_

13th of Matrinalis, Tuesday

There was no celebration when the teenagers reached the end of the tunnel. They did not revel in their escape. They mourned for the dead, for the missing, and except for Aelita, their lost home. It was daybreak by the time they reached the Scarwood Forest, and they didn't stop to rest until the column of smoke was just a streak on the horizon. By then, it was midday.

"So, I've been thinking if we're going to be Heroes together and everything that we should get to know one another a little better." Odd suggested. "Yumi, Ulrich and I know each other pretty well, and Yumi claims to know you and William, Your Highness, but I think we should all get better acquainted." No one responded. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Okay, I guess I'll go first."

As they walked, Odd spoke of his history. He spoke of being the only boy in a litter of girls, and of being a half-elf in a racist city like Capital Lyoko. His father, an elf named Robert, had been a Ranger before deciding to pursue the career of a minstrel. He met Odd's mother, a human named Marguerite, on his travels, and they married. They settled in Capital Lyoko shortly before Elizabeth was born, followed by Marie, Adele, Louise and Pauline. Odd was the youngest, and due to his parents being constantly busy, was primarily raised by his sisters. They liked to tease him, but he knew that they had his best interest at heart.

Odd admitted that while he more related to his human heritage, he was fascinated by his father's work as a Ranger, an occupation primarily left to elves. Laura explained that it was out of respect that elves were assigned to guard nature, though Aelita insisted it was because the humans did not want them in the cities. In any case, Odd had asked his father to give him pointers, and due to his parents' constant positive reinforcement, Robert gave him his old bow, which Odd kept with him.

"He said I was a natural born hunter," Odd proclaimed, digging around in the bag of his belongings. "And not to brag, but he was right! I killed my first clan of vampires at only thirteen." He commented proudly before returning to his bag.

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "No offense, Odd, but I doubt that you could take on an entire clan of vampires by yourself." He commented.

"No, look," Odd said, pulling out a blood red brooch from his bag. It was engraved with a simplified bat in front of the moon. "Their leader was wearing this. They looked pretty young, though. I can't imagine they were very experienced."

Jeremie held the brooch. "Perhaps they were newly turned vampires, or an offshoot of a larger more experienced clan." He mused.

The Scout shrugged. "I don't know. That could be true." He looked up at Ulrich. "I volunteer you as the next storyteller!"

He scoffed. "There isn't much to tell." Ulrich was the son of a wealthy merchant, virtually a noblewoman in terms of finances, connections and lifestyle, and a former mariner. His mother's parents disapproved of the match at first, but then his father proved he was of economic benefit when he connected Stern Mercantile to Zhongguo, a country in the east known for its high quality and exclusive goods. Even Ishiyama Imports hadn't been able to set up long-term trade with Zhongguo.

Unlike Odd, Ulrich's father was very strict. He did not approve of his obsession with foreign cultures or his dealings in combat, despite his history with the mariners. A big issue with his family was his friendship with Yumi. The Sterns and the Ishiyamas were economic rivals, so their friendship was ill-advised. Yumi confirmed this, and Odd made a comedic jibe at the two, causing an awkward situation for all. A lot of was Ulrich had learned about Nippon had been learned from Yumi, and his combat training had come from private tutors he'd paid for on his own.

Ulrich nudged Yumi as the sun started to hide itself behind the trees. "I think that it is your turn, Yumi." He teased.

She thought for a moment. "I was born in Kitosu, a port city in Nippon." She began. Her parents were part of the colonization process that ended shortly after Hiroki was born, and Yumi had lived in Lyoko since she was two. Every summer she visited Kitosu, until Lyoko fought against its Nihonjin occupiers. Due to their wealth, the Ishiyama family was permitted to stay, though they kept their connections in Nippon.

But as was so often the case with colonization, Yumi wasn't sure where she belonged. She had been born in Nippon, and she loved her Mother Country, but she didn't feel like she belonged there. Furthermore, she has a basic grasp of telekinesis, a skill more often applied in lands Lyoko controlled. It was disgraceful in Nippon at best, and at worse it was seen as being marked by a demon.

Despite her parents wanting her to be a lady, Yumi was fascinated with her people's martial arts. She studied tessenjutsu, bojutsu and various forms of ninjutsu. She had also combined her Ninja training with stealth she'd acquired in Lyoko, making her an ideal assassin, should she desire. Her parents thought she was weird, Hiroki thought nothing of it and her friends were impressed she was a weapons master at only seventeen.

Jeremie seemed the most impressed. "You've killed people before?" He asked.

Yumi seemed confused. "Of course I have. I've killed thieves, assassins, spies and most recently drow soldiers. Why are you so surprised? Haven't you killed people before?"

He shook his head. "I'm not a real fighter. I know basic swordplay, but that's about it. I killed some of the drow constructs yesterday. Does that count?"

Ulrich laughed. "Jeremie, saying that you aren't a real fighter is like saying bunnies aren't real monsters—a colossal understatement."

William comforted the Wise Man. "Don't worry. I expect that you'll get a lot more experience in days to come."

The sun had gone down now, though the moon had barely risen and the teens finally stopped to make camp. William and Aelita gathered firewood, and then Laura started the fire using her magic. Then they pitched their tents. They gathered around the fire, and Aelita suggested, "Jeremie, why don't you tell us about your life?"

Jeremie seemed flustered, but he agreed. Jeremie had been born in Capital Lyoko, and his parents had taught him everything they knew about the world they lived in, though admittedly most of this knowledge was old and no longer relevant. However, he knew a lot about the gods, though how much of this he believed was in dispute, and he knew a bit about the nature of orcs and dwarves too. Aelita asked if he knew much about the elves, to which he offhandedly said that the only people who truly understood the elves were the elves themselves. She, surprisingly, laughed.

He also admitted that despite his fascination with swordplay, he had little skill in it, as he was not born with a sword in his hand, like Ulrich, Yumi and Odd had been. He also admitted that his skills were better used outside of combat, in tactics and conversation.

He left out the part about his mother's death. It had been three years ago now, and she'd died at the hands of the orcs. Of course the culprits were executed, but it was painful to think about. Yumi and William knew from word of mouth, and they would later tell the others.

Laura volunteered to go next. She'd discovered an affinity for magic at the age of eight, and her parents enrolled her in the Grimoire Academy, the most prestigious school for magic in Lyoko. She especially excelled at healing magic, and due to her deep understanding of life magic, was also rather adept at using fire. Despite the fact she excelled in her studies, no healer, no matter how skilled, was able to save her mother, who died of the Miasma Wasting epidemic six years prior. Even Aelita remembered the ceremonies that were held in the Queen Mother's honor all across Lyoko.

Laura sat up straighter as she continued. "But my mother is gone now and nothing can bring her back." She spoke about her graduation at the top of her class, and her discovery of her gift in the field of divination. "William, maybe you should go next?" Laura suggested.

William rolled his eyes. "My family has lived in Lyoko since the fall Baetheri in 3:98 Codex. Since then, we've been considered practically nobility, despite the elf-blood." He explained the role of House Dendar in the Great Colony War, and how William himself had been put into the King's service.

Apparently William was more in-tune with his elf-blood than his family, and while he wanted to endear the dark elves to the people of Lyoko like his family, he also struggled with the mischievous urge all elves felt. Dark elves usually had a lighter sense of humor, which was ironic, and often their idea of pranks involved jealousy. William had almost caused the death of a nobleman during one such prank, though the King pardoned him when he learned of William's skills in combat. He now served as Laura's bodyguard, and as a non-servile manservant.

Aelita bitterly muttered he was a slave. William disagreed politely, and it was Laura who took offense to the comment. "Oh, and I suppose you know firsthand what slavery is like, knife ear?" She demanded.

The Outcast sat up. "I do, in fact. I've spent time in Arak-Muna!" There was a pause, the only sound to be heard coming from the crickets serenading the half-moon. Arak-Muna was a settlement in the south of Lyoko, near the Sea of Cobalt. It was one of the only places left in the Lyoko where slavery was still practiced openly. None of the teenagers were so foolish to believe that slavery didn't exist in more modern areas—the Delmas family was rumored to keep slaves, and the Headmistress of the Grimoire Academy was known to purchase slaves as test subjects in classes dealing with destruction-oriented spells and for vivisection. But it wasn't a practice that was looked upon kindly.

Slavery in Lyoko dated back to the founding of the kingdom in 1:13 Origin, before Nippon invaded and colonized in 4:22 East. The land had been called Elvehnan, and it had expanded over most of Lyoko's four main regions. The elves had called it home then, and the humans overpowered and subjugated them. Many of Lyoko's major cities, such as Capital Lyoko, Carthage and Kadic were built primarily on slave labor. Slavery in those cities had been abolished under Nihonjin rule, but there was never a lot done to force the issue, so the practice had continued into the fifth age. Arak-Muna, Carda, Bastium and Marsy were slave ports, with many small towns and farms depending on the slaves they provided to survive.

Many elves lived in peace within Lyoko's cities now but some had rejected human rule after freed by the Nihonjin invasion. Most of these 'wild elves' were nomadic, rarely venturing near human cities and only then to trade. Arlathan resided in the south, a hundred miles north of Arak-Muna, and was the only surviving elven city. Their king lived there, and they frequently attacked by slave caravans. For Aelita to say she had spent time in Arak-Muna, it meant she had probably been captured during a raid.

Laura apologized quietly, and Aelita said nothing in return. The moon was high over the teenagers now, and they quietly went to bed, with Ulrich volunteering to be the first to keep watch.

* * *

Xana stepped carefully over the fallen statues and studied the faces of the dead, both allies and citizens alike. But there was one person who was missing in the debris—the King. She cursed in her native tongue, and Sinae approached with a line of prisoners behind her. "Our plan failed. The King still lives," Xana complained.

Sinae did not seem worried. "We have captured Capital Lyoko. We have dealt a blow to his confidence already, Matron Mother. The Destructor smiles upon us tonight," She said confidently. "And we have found many new human slaves, some who would make excellent blood sacrifices to increase your power, Matron Mother."

The Matron nodded in agreement. One hundred years in a deep sleep had given her magic a much needed boost, but she was still not as powerful as she wanted to be, or as powerful as she needed to be to take over Lyoko, and then the known world. "Take the slaves to the cages, and we will begin our descent to Maera to restock and create more constructs."

Sinae agreed, but before she could drag the slaves outside of the walls, a small voice raised in protest. "My older sister will stop you! You'll never get away with this! Unhand me, you ashen-skinned heathen!"

Xana turned slowly to see a small Nihonjin boy struggling against the chains. She smirked and got on eye-level with the young boy. "And who is your older sister, da'len?" She asked. When he didn't respond, she slapped his ear hard. "Speak, da'len, or I will force the words from you."

"Yumi Ishiyama. Her name is Yumi Ishiyama and she will rescue me!" The boy shouted.

Xana tilted her head, and using her dagger, she cut a clump of hair from the boy's head. She summoned a demon and demanded that it find the sister to the owner of the hair. The demon showed her a Nihonjin girl, about seventeen, walking with six others—four other humans, a Halfling, a drow and a wilder elf—through the forest. They were a motley crew no doubt, and Xana suddenly knew who they were. "She'va dahl, he is related to one of the Warrior's prophesized Heroes!"

But her shock was not long lived. She laughed, throwing her head back and laughing from her gut. "By the Destruction Mother, fate sends children to combat my purpose? These da'vhen have no chance to oppose my rule!" She cackled.

When they reached Maera at moonrise, Xana bought supplies and began creating her constructs. She gave them the hair of the sibling, and ordered them to find the Hero who shared the parents. Xana slept that night, confident her plan would succeed.

* * *

A/N: I will begin from now on trying my best to ONLY update on Mondays and Friday, maybe Wednesdays if I feel ambitious. If I mess up and forget, I'll either update on Wednesdays (should the slip happen on Monday) or two chapters on the next update day. Not sure how well this will work, but that's my goal. Also, if you want a translation of any of the Elvish words, shot me a PM and I'll be sure to translate it for you. Excluding she'va dahl. Because as far as I know, she'va dahl has no translation.


	5. Summer 5

_Episode 5: Ambushed_

14th of Matrinalis

Odd was the last to wake up, and was pleased to find a warm breakfast waiting for him. It had been a long night, with physical exhaustion combating acute terror. A warm breakfast was welcome. Aelita had found some wild herbs in the woods, and she'd seasoned the porridge with them, with seemed to increase their stamina. The teenagers packed camp and Jeremie pulled out a map. "It seems to me that the closest town is Juno's Eye." Jeremie said, pointing to a position on the map. "We came out of the Dendar passage around here, and we went west from there, so I can't imagine we're any farther than this."

Odd disagreed, "No, we aren't there. We're here. See, the tunnel let out here, though we did go west. I don't think Juno's Eye is closest, though. There's a village called Narza at the base of the Baramunz Highlands. There are many dwarves living there, so there are bound to be high-quality weapons and under armor. Then we can get up to the Highlands, and gain access to the Western Plains without using the Imperial Highway." Odd pointed, tracing his finger along the map.

Jeremie and Odd argued good-naturedly about their location, but seeing as how Odd had ventured more frequently from Capital Lyoko, they both decided that it would be best to follow his suggestion. It took about an hour to reach Narza, where a great many dwarves plied their trade. They sold more than just armor and weapons, but also little curios and other items. Jeremie found a book on telepathic theories, which due to his discovery of his telepathic connection with the others, intrigued him greatly. Laura found many scrolls that would help in tight situations. Yumi bought a new bo staff, which she twirled to get a feel for.

Ulrich managed to find a decent set of lock picks, which he quickly invested in. Lock picking was a hobby of his, and he was always looking for a chance to improve the skill. Since it seemed they were on the road permanently now, it would undoubtedly come in handy. William invested in a whetstone to sharpen his sword—for he had a large sword and he sharpened it often—and Odd purchased a blank book and charcoal, which in days to come he would fill with drawings.

Ulrich found Aelita just outside town speaking with elven merchants. She seemed to be intrigued with the rag dolls, but instead bought new clothes, something much more practical. Unlike the others, Aelita had found her home—a makeshift tent with only a few fragile possessions—to be completely burned, and since she had not expected the city to be attacked, she had not brought her real clothes. Luckily those clothes seemed replaceable—the clothes she bought at the merchant's aravel seemed almost identical. "Kitten, did I see you looking at those dolls?" He teased with brotherly affection.

Ulrich was an only child, and he got the impression Aelita was lonely. Being introverted himself, he identified with the Outcast, and he viewed her as his little sister. In their two days, Ulrich had given her the nickname 'kitten' because of her obvious curiosity with the world around her (and quietly he admitted her pointed ears made the connection easier to make), and Ulrich was the first person Aelita had called 'lethallin,' which was a casual title given to a friend.

"Aneth ara, lethallin," Aelita smiled, tucking her formal clothes into her bag and wrapping bandages up her legs for modesty. "I didn't see you there. Did you buy anything at the durgen'len market?"

Ulrich almost questioned her on her words, but concluded she referred to the many dwarven merchants. "Lock picks, just in case. I see you bought new clothes, and don't think that I didn't notice you avoided my question." He smirked.

She blushed. "No—I wasn't looking at the dolls. I mean, I was, but I was just… admiring the craftsmanship. Those dolls are very well made, even for the elvhen." She stood when she'd finished the wrappings, and she walked past them "We should meet up with the others."

They stood in the center market, prepared to make the journey on. A young dwarven woman with long, blond hair and a claymore approached them. Despite her short stature, she was very beautiful, and her chainmail cut low to show cleavage. Odd began considering the likelihood that she would date him. "Atrast vala, outsiders. My name is Brynja Heringsdötir," She greeted. She sized them up, her eyes lingering harshly on William and Aelita, probably due to the racism held between elves and dwarves. Nevertheless, she smiled and said, "The merchants say you are refugees, and that you bring word of kallak."

Jeremie spoke, knowing what Brynja spoke of. "Yes, the dark elves attacked Capital Lyoko. We managed to escape, as did many others, but some were not so lucky. You should send word to the deshyr of Narza's head kalna."

The dwarf looked to him. "You surprise me, outsider. Not many would know enough about us to use our words correctly." She smiled briefly, but it vanished. "The deshyr has added extra patrols to the Scarwood Forest, and this is why I must ask you to remain inside the boundaries of Narza until further notice."

William seemed less than pleased. "We cannot stay here. We must continue forward, warn other towns and prevent more attacks when we can." He protested.

Brynja eyed him angrily. "That's not my problem, salroka. I'm not the one giving orders. If you wish to challenge the deshyr, you are welcome to try. There would be a hundred dwarven arrows in you before you could say 'mercy,' dirt farmer." She spat.

William opened his mouth to challenge the dwarven woman, but Laura and Yumi calmed him. "No, William. We don't want to antagonize them." Yumi said, and he tried to calm himself.

* * *

A dwarven scout watched as drow constructs followed the path, and his breath caught when he saw a beautiful drow woman riding on a crab-like construct. Her hair was in braids, and she wore thin leather armor. The dwarf summoned his courage and blew as loud as he could on his horn, hoping that they could hear him in Narza. The drow stopped the constructs, and she jumped off the construct she rode. She pulled him from the hedge and ordered one of the cubed construct to strike him.

The dwarf was still alive when the drow kicked his throat and rode away.

* * *

Hearing the horn, Brynja and other warrior dwarves prepared for battle, and the Heroes stood alongside them. Odd stood next to the beautiful dwarf and eyed her. "So, uh, are you doing anything later?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Killing dirt walkers and leading the warriors of Narza to amgarrak," Brynja said, holding her claymore threateningly. Odd nodded and prepared his bow. The constructs appeared on the horizon, and charged. "To arms, brothers! May Vulcan and Mars guide our swords to amgarrak!" The dwarves cheered, and they charged the constructs.

* * *

The battle had gone on for hours. The sun was starting to set, and the army grew weaker. Being too exhausted to fight any longer, Jeremie had climbed to the top of the building, monitoring the battle and giving suggestions to the other Heroes. He felt useless, but he vowed he would return to the battle as soon as he was able. But as a woman appeared in the staircase, he feared he would not be able to. "Who are you?" He demanded of the dark elf, "Who do you work for? Who attacked Capital Lyoko?"

The drow drew her twin khopeshes, and she pointed one at him. "I am Sinae, right hand of the Matron of House Kenval, Xana." She said, clearly not bothered by conversing with one she wanted to kill.

Jeremie remembered the name. "Xana Kenval? Wasn't she the leader of the dark elf uprising a hundred years ago? She caused the Surface War!" He shouted, drawing his blade. Xana Kenval had been defeated by one of Laura's relatives an age ago, with the help of Saint Aelita Fen'harel the Wise, whom the Outcast was named after, though the elf had not survived the war. "You lie! Xana Kenval is dead!"

Sinae shook her head. "Not dead, but sleeping. We have waited for the day she could reawaken, and now she will finish what we started." Sinae prepared to strike, and Jeremie prepared as well. "Not that you'll survive to tell anyone, shem. Prepare to die,"

Sinae struck first, and Jeremie moved quickly to block the strike with his shield. She sliced with her off-hand khopesh, and he jumped out of the way. Jeremie dodged many of her attacks, studying her movement. When he saw an opportunity to weaken her, he took it, stabbing her in the stomach.

Jeremie had heard the others tell of their first kills, with the exception of Aelita and Laura. He had expected it to feel no different than killing a construct, but he was wrong. He saw the pain in her eyes, whereas a construct felt nothing. He had this pit growing in his stomach, and he pulled the sword out of the drow. She fell onto him, and he panicked, pushing her off of him. They stood near enough to the side of the building that the push sent her corpse over the edge, falling with a 'thump' into the market square.

Jeremie had killed someone, and he would try his best not to do it again, no matter what. _A Hero I may be_, he thought, _but a murderer I am not._

* * *

Without Sinae to lead them, the constructs fell one by one. Many dwarves had died, but the citizens of Narza spoke of them with great honor. Brynja thanked the Heroes for their assistance, and presented them with a small sack of gold for helping protect the settlement. That night, as Odd was scouting the area and Laura started the fire, Jeremie explained what he had learned from Sinae before she died.

"Elgar'nan! The Dark Mother has returned?" Aelita exclaimed. "By the Creation Father, if what you say is true, then not even the Heroes of Old can stop her! A hundred years of her magic growing…" She held her fist to her mouth to quiet its trembling.

Laura looked at Jeremie. "It's true. We're just children. We don't stand a chance against Xana Kenval." She looked to her toes. "Gods, I thought we could actually win this war. But if she is awake, we can't."

Yumi remembered studying Xana. She was born a noble in the Underdark, and was easily the most talented magician in her class. Xana was believed to have been defeated in the Siege of the Leifreholm the Blooded. But it appears that she was merely in a stage of deep sleep. "I don't believe that, Laura. If Xana was defeated once, then she can be defeated again."

Ulrich agreed. "Xana is just a person. People die all the time. Why should this drow be so different?" He reasoned.

"It won't be easy," William stated. "One hundred years have improved the drow, just like the humans, elves, orcs and dwarves. There will be an army of constructs and dark elves waiting to lay down their lives in her name, and in the name of the Destruction Mother." William had experience with the paranoia of the drow.

Ulrich glared at him. "No one said it would be easy." He smirked. "Besides, William, you aren't deterred by a challenge, are you?" The statement had undertones of something more than his words implied. Ulrich was challenging William to something, but what?

Jeremie looked at his toes. He did not mention Sinae's death. He looked up at the others. "So are we decided? We're going to take the fight to Xana?"

The others seemed hesitant. After all, none of them were older than eighteen. But Xana was the bigger problem, not their ages. They nodded their heads in agreement. Suddenly, Odd appeared out of the dense woods. "Hey, come see what I found!" He said, ushering them into the woods.

Odd led them to a landship used by the wilder elves, and Aelita's eyes lit up when she saw it. It seemed abandoned, as the fire was out and the inside had been cleaned of potions, weapons and books. "Odd, you found an aravel!" She entered it, and she confirmed that it had belonged to a wandering clan. "This looks like it belonged to the Minore clan, which was almost completely decimated in an orc raid three years ago. I suppose the survivors abandoned the aravel to travel faster."

"I don't think that they would mind if we, say, borrowed it. I doubt they are coming back, judging by the amount of dust in here." Odd said, and Aelita agreed.

With some assistance from a conjured deer, the teenagers brought the aravel back to the campsite. They loaded the landship with Jeremie's books, Laura's scrolls and several miscellaneous objects that were not needed inside the tents or would slow down their individual travel. Then they locked it, and Aelita confirmed that it would not easily be broken into. "I'll take the first watch," Jeremie said, his voice pained. "I don't think I'll be getting any sleep tonight, anyway."

* * *

A/N: A shorter chapter. I plan to post a picture of the aravel on my DeviantArt page, but don't hold me to this, as aravels are not simple things. Also, I'm happy to translate the dwarven language, too, though this is from Dragon Age, just like the Elvish I use.


	6. Summer 6

_Episode 6: Dreamland_

16th of Matrinalis

Xana slammed her fists angrily on the table. "How do these children keep evading me?" She shouted, clearly frustrated at her recent failure. Dhaune tried to comfort the Matron, but clearly she was too frustrated to fall to such false comforts. "How are they so strong? They survived the burning of Capital Lyoko, and the attack of Narza. What power protects them?"

Dhaune smiled. "Perhaps the magic of friendship is protecting them and giving them strength?" She offered, offering a shawl to Xana.

Xana stopped pacing, thought for a moment, and then looked at the slave. "Dhaune, do you have any idea how incredibly stupid you just sounded?" She asked, not really angry but honestly curious. Xana had been slumbering for a century, and depended on Dhaune to explain things to her. But some things were timeless.

Dhaune half-laughed, "I suppose you're right, Matron Mother," Dhaune watched as Xana paced about the room.

"Sinae was the leader of the attack, and the little one with the glass in front of his eyes did me a favor in eliminating her. The last thing I need is a female claiming my title." Xana mused, and she turned to face her right-hand slave. "Where are they headed now?"

Dhaune looked at the war map. The teenage Heroes were marked with a red pin, whereas the drow armies were marked in blue. "Our scouts last saw them on the path up the Baramunz Highlands. I cannot believe that they are but a day's journey to Koranth."

Xana remembered Koranth. "Didn't the armies destroy that village in the first few attacks of the Surface War?" She asked.

Dhaune nodded. "The Veil is still thin there. Spirits often cross over from the Beyond and the village is often ransacked by them. Perhaps you should summon some there?" She suggested.

Xana walked over to the map and summoned her magic. "I can do you one better," She said, smiling as she walked away. "I will hunt them down to the deepest, darkest ring of Bellanaris to see them dead!"

* * *

17th of Matrinalis

Laura and Aelita were both visibly concerned as they continued their path up the mountains. To a lesser extent Yumi could also feel the air shiver, as if it feared something the teenagers could not see. In a rare moment of agreement, Aelita looked to Laura and asked, "You sense it, too? This is Setheneran," She shivered, and it wasn't because of the climate.

Laura nodded. "If that means we're walking right into a hotbed of demon activity, then I wholeheartedly agree." She said.

Odd looked at them skeptically. "Gods strike me down. If the two of you are in agreement, then truly this is the end of the world."

Jeremie looked to them skeptically as well. "I have to agree with Odd. I doubt we're truly going to come across any demons. They're just stories; a way for magistrates and magicians to justify caution." He said logically.

Aelita shook her head. "No, you're wrong, lethallin," She explained, "Spirits are every bit as real as you and I are. They call to us in our dreams, especially to magicians. That is how magicians learn blood magic, and how they raise corpses." She shivered again, and drew her dagger. It was of fine make—the edge of the blade was made of pure ebony, with swirls and designs carved into it, while the actual blade was mithril and very sharp. She studied it in her hands, rubbing the carved fox on the walnut handle.

Ulrich seemed particularly interested in the idea of facing demons. "You mean that we're walking closer to a land of dreams?" He asked excitedly.

Jeremie looked at him in exasperation. "You sound just like my father," He complained.

Aelita smiled. "In a sense, the Beyond, as shemlen call it, does reflect our dreams, as that is where our unconscious goes in our sleep. Spirits shape the world there, and they copy what they see in our dreams. Stories of how the Beyond came to be differ, however."

That was true enough. The humans claimed that the god Morpheus created the Beyond, and worked with his father Somnus to bring man there when he slept. Then, most of the gods created spirits or demons resembling themselves and gave them power to shape the Beyond. The elves, on the other hand, claimed that before the Mother and the Father had their disagreement, they created both the physical world and the Beyond, which entombed multiple rings, and these rings home to the spirits of the dead. When the two split apart, the Creation Father tried to reconcile the two by showing the Destruction Mother all of the good and the bad things about their relationship, resulting in the middle section of the Beyond, which was home to demons. Dwarves and some humans simply considered it a physical representation of the mortal mind.

All theories butted heads, and caused conflict across the land. Though all theories urged caution when dealing with both kinds of spirits, the approaches to them were entirely different. That was why elves were so much easier to lure to blood magic—even though it was looked on as, if not black certainly grey magic—the spirits came from the Creator, and were not entirely evil, whereas humans believed all blood magic to be evil and the result of witches or malevolent gods.

William stretched his arms over his head. "Still, if Her Majesty requests extra precautions to be taken, I think it would be best were we to listen."

Soon, on the horizon, the quaint village of Koranth came into view. But as they drew closer, the non-magicians grew sleepy, and Laura and Aelita were desperately fighting their artificial exhaustion. "Resist! You must resist, or else they have us where they want us!" Laura warned, but soon, they had all fallen asleep, even the magicians. The dreams that would follow were watched by a woman with an evil laugh.

* * *

Ulrich woke up in Koranth, but he felt wrong. He looked down at his hands, which felt smaller than they had been. Looking up at Yumi and the others, their bodies seemed strangely distorted, and he felt as if he were looking at them through a curved lens. Standing, he could see Yumi seemed paler, and Odd had grown fur on his face and arms, looking wild. "Where are we?" He asked, looking around. The world looked like it was covered in pale yellow mist.

"This is the first ring of the Beyond," Aelita said, standing. "If I had to guess, someone knew we would pass by here, and set up a trap for us. I feel a spirit of sloth lurking in the shadows. Perhaps if we destroyed it, it would break the spell."

Laura snapped her head to look at the elf. "How are you able to sense demons? I can feel where the Veil is thin, but demons as a whole are largely lost to me." She asked with suspicion obvious in her voice.

Aelita crinkled her nose. "It is a skill passed onto me by my hahren, honed by the People over centuries." She explained defensively, but Laura did not seem convinced. "Spirits have a different energy than the souls and the whole of Bellanaris," Aelita tried to help her understand.

"And yet I notice how you do not use the word demon." Laura accused.

Aelita raised her shoulders in offense. "What are you insinuating? It is a religious difference between that of the People and of the shemlen! We don't consider spirits and demons different!" It was Odd that separated the two magician girls, but this argument would mark the first of many that would follow.

Yumi looked into the village. There seemed to be many people trapped there, shivering in fear. "Who are those people? Are they spirits?"

William spoke up. "My mother was a magician, and though I never believed her, she said that the spirits of people can be trapped unwillingly in the Beyond. If it happened to us, I don't think it is impossible for the villagers to be trapped too."

"In any case, if there really is a demon watching us, our first mission is to kill it," Jeremie explained, "Once we've done that, we should be able to free ourselves and the villagers. If not, then there may be something we can do in the physical world."

Odd sighed. "Great. Because my dreams weren't weird enough already, now we're stuck in the world of dreams." Ulrich questioned him about his animalistic appearance, but Odd didn't respond.

Walking in the Beyond felt bizarre, like trying to tread butter, and yet they never grew tired. It felt like it took an hour to cross into the actual village. Most people were afraid, but none had actual faces. There were black scribbles where their faces should have been, and Ulrich seemed disturbed to be near them. He walked in the center of the group, his hand twitching near the hilt of his blade. "Do you suppose he is one of the Blind?" Aelita wondered aloud, considering the possibility.

"It is possible. If so, we should find this demon of yours and get out of here before the Beyond further twists his mind." Laura said. Aelita was about to protest to the Fair calling the sloth spirit hers, but she was interrupted.

"Who are the Blind?" Odd asked as he tried to comfort his lifelong friend.

"The Blind are people who are preternaturally cut off from the Beyond. They cannot dream and if exposed to the Beyond too long, can go crazy. We should look faster." Aelita said, trying to comfort Ulrich.

As they walked further, an elf with a very ghostly appearance glided up to them. "By the Creator, you are a fellow wilder! Truly, this is a blessed day!" The ghost said, his voice echoed.

Odd pushed Aelita forward. "I think he's talking to you," He said.

Aelita walked closer to him. "Andaran atish'an, lethallin. Are you trapped here as well?" She asked, pretending that his face was not obscured.

"Am I? I do not recall. We have been here for so long." The elf shook his head. "Tell me, da'len, how have you come here?" He asked.

"We seem to have been trapped here by a spirit of sloth. I imagine all of you are trapped here, too." Aelita explained.

The elf thought. "A spirit of sloth? Yes, I remember a spirit, but it is gone now. It no longer binds us. Perhaps if you banish this spirit, we will be freed, too." He didn't allow her the chance to reply, walking off into the distance.

Yumi shook her head as well. "Some help that was," She muttered. She looked to Aelita. "I hope you have a better plan."

She looked around the village. "Spirits such as sloth like to feel important, especially more important than other spirits. The sloth spirit we're looking for is probably in a large, important building." She theorized.

The teenagers thought for a while. "I'll bet this village has a town hall." Odd offered. "If I were a demon, I'd overthrow the mayor. Or, we could go to the village temple. I'm sure that we can find desecrated shrines to the gods or something."

"That's a great idea, Odd!" William complimented.

Odd didn't seem surprised. "I have them all the time. I don't understand why people are always so surprised." He said in annoyance.

They decided to search the temple first, because it was closer and Laura advised that it was unwise to split up in the Beyond. They found more anxious, faceless people, but no demons. "Quickly, before Ulrich runs out of time," Yumi said as she and Odd tried their best to drag their old friend along to the next largest building.

"Before we run out of time," William muttered, following the others.

The mist around their feet grew thicker and darker as they approached. "We must be getting closer. Do you feel the malevolence in the air?" Jeremie asked.

Laura laughed in spite of herself. "It isn't air, Jeremie. We're in the Beyond." He looked at her, and she smiled smugly. "Still, I think Odd's first instinct may have been correct. What do you think, knife-ear?" She turned to Aelita with her insult, clearly trying to annoy her.

"I think that you can take your prissy ass, Miss Thing, and—" Aelita began, but was urged to stop by Yumi and William. She flipped her hair out of her face. "I think that the spirit is nearby, yes." She murmured angrily.

Odd opened the door to the building in front of them. It was completely empty inside, except for several faceless corpses. When Yumi entered, she jumped when one of them moved slightly. These bodies were not corpses, but simply had no energy. She hoped that they were still alive. The others entered, and from the opening in the ceiling came a large oval-shaped demon with four legs, and it landed on the fountain. It made an angry noise, but didn't charge the teenagers. "Is that the demon we're looking for?" Odd asked.

Aelita nodded. "Yes, that is a spirit of sloth. Think active thoughts, like running and jumping and such," She advised.

Sloth demons did not get their name by being lazy. No demon got their name by exhibiting a trait. They got their names by feeding on one. Unlike most demons that nurtured and fed on a trait already existing, sloth demons found energetic mortals and fed on their life force. They did this by giving off a sleepy aura. Thinking active thoughts was supposed to combat the drowsiness.

This demon did not try to speak to the Heroes, but instead made a sound that was louder and angrier. Its center glowed with the same symbol the constructs that had attacked Capital Lyoko and Narza had possessed. Jeremie pointed to it. "That demon was summoned here by Xana! No wonder it took aim at us!" He declared.

The warriors, excluding Ulrich, who could barely stand, and Aelita, who was trying to keep him awake, prepared to fight. Odd readied his bow and jumped up onto a high bookshelf. Yumi readied her fans, pacing around the open room, acting as defense. William and Jeremie drew their swords, and Jeremie prepared to block attack with his shield. Laura grabbed her wand, and while she wanted to prepare her fire spells, she knew her training as a priest would be more helpful.

Yumi was the first to strike, throwing one of her Tessen fans at the demon, crippling one of the legs. It stumbled, but it started to glide towards Yumi. Odd fired his readied arrow, pinning it to the back wall. It struggled, putting out a black aura to weaken their defenses. Jeremie nodded at William, who nodded back. He charged for the demon, and Laura cast a spell on him, increasing his strength to combat the work of the demon. William banished the demon, and the world around them grew hazy.

The elf-spirit approached Aelita, who smiled as Ulrich's eyes stopped twitching. She looked up at the spirit. "Will you find me, da'len?" The spirit asked. "We have been here for too long. I will not make it. Will you sing for me?"

Aelita agreed as the Beyond faded.

* * *

The teenagers awoke on the outskirts of town, exactly where they'd lost consciousness. The Veil was still weak, but it was stronger, and the sense of foreboding was gone. The village was in ruins, as if it had been burned. It felt too familiar to walk through the bones of a dead village, and Aelita looked around for an elven corpse. She found it inside of a bookstore, behind the counter. "Here you are. I promised you I'd sing, didn't I?" She said.

The singing of the elven eulogy was as important to the wilder elves as the funeral processions of the humans were to them. Aelita had been trained briefly in funeral rights, and knew the song she was to sing. She sat on her knees, and she held a hand over the corpse with her eyes closed.

"_Hahren na melana salin_

_Emma ir abelas_

_Souver'inan isala hamin_

_Vhenan him dor'felas_

_In uthenera na revas._

_Vir sulahn'nehn_

_Vir dirthera_

_Vir samahl la numin_

_Vir lath sa'vunin._"

Aelita opened her eyes, and she looked sadly at her companions. Later that night she would explain the meaning of the lyrics, but now was not the time.

* * *

If Xana had been angry before, she was infuriated now. She threw a book across the room, yelling at the top of her lungs. "If I cannot outmaneuver them, perhaps I should try taking them down from the inside…" Xana mused, trying to redirect her rage. The necklace she wore had gone from teal blue to red, and it burned her like hot ash.

Dhaune offered her a plate of lizard eggs to calm her down. "Are you going to stalk them in their dreams, Matron Mother?" She asked.

Xana thought. "Perhaps I will, though that will require more effort than I'd like to put into seven children." She said. She looked at Dhaune with more interest than she'd ever shown the slave, and while Dhaune adored the Matron, her look made her very nervous. "On the other hand, Dhaune… you look about their age."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update. Seeing as how this story takes its language from the Dragon Age universe, the song Aelita sings is from the same universe. The song is called 'Leliana's Song' or 'In Uthenera'. I have tried putting the link here with all my tricks, but I think it'll be easier if you just, you know, look it up on your own.


	7. Summer 7

Episode 7: Dhaune

1st of Solis

When Laura woke, Jeremie was still tending to the fire, though it was now only embers in the pit they had dug. It was the first time she'd been alone with him since Koranth, though that had been two weeks ago. "Good morning, Princess," He said, not looking up from the fire. Jeremie, nor any of her companions, were ever informal with her. Aelita called her names, but Laura did the same. Laura thought Aelita was suspicious, and she needed to tell Jeremie, who had become sort of their leader, though the Fair often tried to undermine his authority.

"Good morning, Jeremie. You're just the Hero I wanted to talk to," She said, sitting next to him by the fire. "Do you want me to get that going for you?" She asked, pointing to the fire pit.

"If you want to, sure," He said as he leaned back so as not to catch his hair on fire as Laura started a larger fire. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

She struggled to find the words. "It's about the elf," She said.

Jeremie let out a chuckle. "Which one? We have two in our company. Three, if you count Odd."

"The magician. Aelita,"

"You two really don't get along, do you?" Jeremie teased lightly.

Laura rolled her eyes. "That's the thing, you see. I… don't trust her. And I don't think you should either." She warned. Jeremie tried to wave her off, but she persisted. "Think about it, Jeremie! She can sense demons, and she won't tell us where she's from!"

"Listen, Laura. Your divination revealed Aelita to us, clear as day. She is a Hero, just like the rest of us. She has every right to be here as you do!" He said shortly as Yumi, William and Ulrich appeared from their respective tents. "Ah, but now we are not alone. I think we're done here."

With Yumi's help, William began to fry fish he'd caught in the river the night before. The smell of food soon brought Odd out of bed, and Aelita eventually joined them. Yumi teased the elf girl gently, "There you are! I didn't think we'd see you at all today."

Aelita smiled and shrugged. "I'm a bit of a night owl. Besides, sleeping really is wonderful."

The teenagers joked and chatted over breakfast. It felt nice on days like this to not worry about the mortal danger they were in, and to socialize like they normally would. But when Odd heard a sound, suddenly everyone was still. Odd grabbed his bow and quiver, and slowly he drew an arrow. The others grabbed their weapons, preparing for whatever threat the Scout had heard.

A dark elf suddenly burst through the bushes, and while Odd almost released his arrow at her, Jeremie ordered him to stand down. Upon closer inspection, the drow was in no way a threat to them. She carried no weapon but the tattered tunic on her back, meaning she was in no way a soldier. Odd also noted that she was not very pretty, considering most elves he met had an air of dignity and beauty that this elf did not possess. Were he a little cruder with higher standards he may have even called her ugly—her skin was blotched white around her jawline and up to about her nose on the right side of her face. Her green eyes seemed out of place on a drow, as did her dim blond hair. "Please, please, you have to help me!" She cried out, holding her stomach in pain.

Laura and William approached the dark elf. "Calm down, sister. How can we help?" William asked as he placed his hands on her quivering shoulders.

The drow moved her arms, revealing her tunic to be stained with red blood. "Gods above, you're bleeding!" Laura said, and she tried to help the drow up.

Ulrich stopped her. "Wait, why are you bleeding? What happened? Did you do this to yourself? Were you attacked?" He questioned.

Yumi seemed offended on the girl's behalf. "Who cares what happened to her? She'll die unless we do something!"

Jeremie looked up at Yumi. "No, he's right. This could be a trap." He looked back to the girl. "What happened to you?"

She hesitated. "I was trying to escape… being sacrificed. I was a… a slave. There were… scouts. They attacked me. Please, I don't want to die!" She started to breathe heavier.

Aelita raised her hands to her mouth. "Oh, the poor dear! We have to help her!"

With William's help, Laura lifted the former slave off the ground and carried her into the aravel, where there were two beds. Laura immediately began to heal the wound while Jeremie shouted for the Vanguard to join them. The scouts the drow had spoken of were constructs, and a dozen of them at that. Odd seemed thrilled. "Six of us, twelve of them. Fortuna smiles on us this day, no?"

Odd was the first to strike, striking one of the crab-like constructs in its joint, bringing it down so he could strike at the center of its head with his clawed gauntlets. He jumped off of it and onto a low-hanging branch on a nearby tree, firing an arrow at a cockroach construct.

Yumi had engaged one of the crabs as well, knocking the construct off of its legs and giving her a chance to kill it from its soft underbelly. One of the cockroaches approached her. "Ugh, aren't you an ugly little thing?" She cringed. It started to attack her, but she kicked it with her steel-toed boot and it hit a tree with such force that it did not get back up. A wasp-like construct hit her shoulder, but before she could retaliate, Aelita had thrown a stone into it. The elf saluted her.

Aelita was a skilled magician, and knew many forms of magic, but she was a glass canon—easily taken down. She'd developed ways to protect herself, and when a crab tried to attack her from behind, she demonstrated one of them. She burst into a cloud of blue butterflies, a skill she'd learned after connecting with nature. The butterflies flew and collected over the crab, and she stabbed the symbol with her dagger.

When more constructs came, William couldn't have been happier. They were the little ones, easily taken down. He used his sword to take down two of them, and following Yumi's lead, he kicked another. He set his sights on a crab, and once he'd sunken his sword into it, he jumped and slashed at a wasp.

Jeremie blocked most of the attacks with his shield, and similar to the attack on Capital Lyoko, slicing quickly at their joints to bring them down, as he could never jump high enough to kill one like the others. He spotted a wasp headed for Aelita, and thinking quickly, he grabbed a cockroach by the leg and shouted, "Odd, head's up!" Jeremie threw the cockroach at the wasp, and Odd shot both of the constructs with a single arrow, pinning them to the tree.

"Nice shot, Belpois! I didn't know you had it in you!" Odd complimented.

"They only weigh, like, five pounds," Jeremie said.

Ulrich was near the entrance to the aravel, trying his best to keep the constructs from entering their portable infirmary. He used his katanna to kill any that came near, and he spotted a dark, gleaming sphere in the bushes. Carefully, he approached, and it opened, revealing a symbol in the center panel. It prepared to fire a laser, and Ulrich blocked it with his katanna, but he felt it pushing him back. "Hey, Jeremie, think you can handle this?" He shouted back. Jeremie nodded reluctantly, hiding behind his shield. Ulrich moved, and the laser wall expanded, now pushing against Barricade.

The Mercenary ran and sliced at the outside of the sphere, though nothing he tried managed to penetrate the shell. "If you could just hurry up and kill the construct, that'd be great!" Jeremie shouted. Aelita shouted for Ulrich to move, and she threw a large boulder at the construct, knocking it off-balance. Ulrich jumped onto it, and he stabbed the sphere's center.

It seemed that the spherical tank was the last monster, and the camp was now littered with construct corpses. Odd slumped against the aravel. "Gods, it should be illegal to work that hard after breakfast!" He complained. Jeremie, Ulrich, William and Aelita apparently agreed, as they slumped around the fire or on the aravel.

Yumi rolled her eyes. "I'm going to check up on Laura and the dark elf." She announced, and she entered the aravel. Laura seemed to have stopped the bleeding, but the elf had passed out. "How is she doing?" Yumi asked.

Laura looked up from the book she was reading. "Oh, Yumi. Did I hear fighting outside? I was preoccupied."

Yumi nodded. "We just took on what felt like a legion of constructs. And don't think that I've forgotten that you didn't answer my question."

Laura looked down at the drow. "She's sleeping now. I managed to get that Xana was planning to use her blood to locate us, and that her name is Dhaune. I didn't get anything else from her, though. Jeremie will probably want to interrogate her once she wakes up."

"Maybe. Anyway, we should pack up. This camp won't be safe anymore." Yumi advised, and Laura agreed.

The teens exited the aravel, and they quickly packed up, giving the horse they'd bought to pull the aravel, Rorkal, a bag of feed before moving camp. They had many small towns to warn before they reached Kadic, a large city.

* * *

That night, when the teens had set up camp again, Yumi went to check on Dhaune. She was awake, and clearly confused. "Where am I?" She asked the Colonist, her green eyes trembling in fear.

Yumi thought for a moment. "I think Jeremie and Odd said that we're about two days from Bryhill, and I trust that they, at least, know where we are. I don't think Odd would lead us in circles, anyway." She shrugged with a smile.

Dhaune smiled briefly, but it faded. "Thank you. For earlier. That was you who stood up to the boy who wanted to leave me to die, wasn't it?" She said.

Yumi nodded. "Yes, that was me. And you don't need to thank me." Dhaune was not like what she'd expected a dark elf slave to be like. Her thoughts wandered to Hiroki, and she sighed sadly at the thought of her younger brother. "Anyway, now that you're awake, I need to get Jeremie. He has questions for you." Yumi left the aravel.

Jeremie appeared moments later, and he sat on the bed across from Dhaune. He was shadowed by Ulrich, who leaned against the opening of the aravel, as so to act as back-up in case Dhaune attacked Jeremie. "So, Laura told me your name is Dhaune, right?" Jeremie stated.

"Yes," Dhaune said, sitting up to face him. Though the wound was gone, the pain remained.

"Where are you from? What did Xana say she was going to do to you?" The Wise Man asked.

"I was in Maera when I ran. The Matron Mother… she had an Overseer drag me into the temple to the Destruction Mother, where she planned to sacrifice me to learn your location. I managed to escape, and I found your camp."

Ulrich wasn't convinced. "Maera is almost twelve days from here. Are we supposed to believe you've been running for twelve days and only found one camp—ours?" He questioned. "You didn't find a town or a group of Rangers?"

Dhaune seemed hurt. "Of course I tried to gain entrance to Narza, but they aren't letting drow inside their gates." She explained.

Jeremie shrugged at the Mercenary, and he turned his attention to Dhaune again. "Do you think Xana will be able to locate you, even if she didn't complete the ritual?" He asked.

She hesitated. "I don't know. Xana is a blood magician, so I wouldn't put it past her to look into my dreams." She admitted as Aelita entered with a plate.

"Gods, I hate blood magic. Is there any better example of the depravity that a person can reach?" Jeremie asked rhetorically.

Aelita smiled weakly, almost forced. "How about a possessed person?" She offered.

The Wise Man shrugged. "I don't know. Up until recently, I would have argued with you that a person cannot truly be possessed, but I think I've changed my mind."

The Outcast approached Dhaune. "Anyway, Dhaune, I've brought you dinner. We're nowhere close to a village, so you'll be with us for at least a couple of days. Better keep your strength up." She said, and then she looked back to Jeremie. "Anyway, lethallin, I think that I'll take first watch tonight."

Ulrich seemed surprised. "Are you sure, kitten? It is my turn, after all."

Aelita sighed. "Yes, I'm sure. I have a lot of things on my mind."

Dhaune had been allowed to sleep in the aravel, unlike the others, who resigned to their respective tents. She was sleeping peacefully until Xana approached her in her dreams. "Have they let you into their group yet?" Xana asked.

Dhaune bowed respectfully. "Yes, Matron Mother. The Mercenary is suspicious, but I feel that they are too preoccupied with settling their own differences to think much of me."

Xana nodded. "Yes, this is good. Just make sure you prove yourself useful, or they'll dump you at the nearest town." She thought for a moment. "Actually, we may be able to use this mistrust. Do you think that you can fertilize the seeds of doubt further?"

"I would do anything for you, Matron Mother." Dhaune agreed.

Aelita poked at the fire with the end of her staff. Unlike Laura's wand, Aelita's staff was long, a skull resting in the gap left by twisting wood and a blade formed at the end. The staff was called Erahalam, roughly meaning 'the end of a dream', though she called the skull Murray. It had been a gift from Edna, an elven magician whom Aelita had called 'hahren'. She always had it with her; though it wasn't often she carried it openly. She looked up at the stars, and she wondered if Edna was watching her.

The Outcast jumped when she heard someone stir behind her, but it was simply Dhaune. "By the Creation Father, Dhaune. Don't sneak up on me like that; I almost attacked you."

Dhaune laughed half-heartedly. "It would be the second time today." She said. "I noticed that you are a wilder. Why are you travelling with a group of shemlen and not your clan?"

"My clan is gone. I do not know where they are, though my hahren… is dead." She looked back to the stars. "I am travelling with these humans willingly." She clarified.

"Willingly… for now," Dhaune stood and went back to the aravel, and Aelita seemed shaken by the words.

Laura appeared from her tent. "Oh, Aelita. I expected to find Ulrich. Anyway, you can go to bed. I'll take over watch."

Aelita stood quickly. "Yes, perhaps you should."

* * *

2nd of Solis

"We may be able to reached Bryhill by tonight if we take a shortcut over the plains here," Odd said the next morning as he and Jeremie looked over the map. Jeremie argued, despite Odd usually having a good idea of where they were. The argument stopped when they heard a nearby roar, and heavy footsteps.

Jeremie looked at Odd with an almost uninterested look upon his face. "Odd, are we near a bridge?"

"I think so, yes," The Scout said. "Why?"

Jeremie stood. "Because that sounds an awful lot like a troll,"

The troll approached, about twice William's size. It had green skin with bumps and calluses, and it was covered with moss. This confused Jeremie, as he'd read about trolls and only those who had been stationary for many years grew moss on their bodies. In any case, there was no way the teenagers would be able to stop such a monstrosity, and they stood to run away.

Dhaune realized what she had to do. She had a mediocre knowledge of illusion magic, and while it wouldn't get the Heroes to trust her, it would be enough to fool such a stupid monster as a troll. The troll roared in her face, and Dhaune created a calming blue aura. After a few minutes, the troll blinked, and it stomped away to look for food elsewhere. She sighed, almost convinced that her spell had failed. She turned to look at the Heroes, and she saw approving looks on their faces. She was in.

Eventually, Jeremie decided to follow Odd's advice, and they arrived at Bryhill in time to get dinner at a local tavern. Along the way, Dhaune had spoken to each of the Heroes, and had planted seeds of mistrust in their minds. It had been done easily for some—Ulrich and William, as well as Laura and Aelita, and to a smaller extent Odd and Jeremie—though Yumi was harder. In any case, Dhaune seemed the least suspicious member of the eight. She sat quietly and enjoyed her handiwork.

"You have a grasp of magic I'd never have expected to see in a knife-ear, Aelita," Laura said, carefully drinking from the goblet that she'd been offered.

"I wish I could say that I believed that, you wine-soaked Imperialist." The Outcast spat. "I'll bet that you'd be happier to see me in irons than casting spells!" Aelita reached over the table and struck the bottom of Laura's goblet, spilling its contents onto the princess's shirt.

"William, I think that you need to take it easy on the battlefield," Ulrich advised. "You'll wear yourself out if you keep on fighting like you do, and I don't want to be the one hauling you into the aravel on my back." Ulrich chuckled.

The Vanguard scoffed. "It's more likely that I'd haul you back, Ulrich. You aren't exactly the most durable of fighters." He gathered gravy onto his spoon and threatened to fling it at the Mercenary.

Odd looked smugly at Jeremie. "And, once again, my path has given us a safer, shorter route to where we're going. Why do you even carry the map, Jeremie?" He asked.

"Because if you carry the map, you're likely to sell it for a quick fix of poppy and a prostitute," The Wise Man said.

Yumi looked over to Dhaune with a grim expression. "We don't normally fight like this. Today is an off-day." She said.

Dhaune shrugged. "And the start of many more to come, it seems like."

* * *

A/N: Hey, I need a beta. You know, someone who reads the chapter before it is officially put up? Yeah, one of those. I may take one or two of the first people who contact me, so drop me a PMif you're interested.


	8. Summer 8

_Episode 8: the Illusion_

10th of Solis

Dhaune had been with the Heroes for ten days now, and she had collected a lot of information on them. She didn't know how much of it Xana could use, but she recorded it all in her mind. She had recorded their fighting styles, for one. Yumi, Ulrich and William were more forward with their attacks, whereas Laura, Aelita and Odd tried to stay away from direct fighting, as they were better for ranged combat. Jeremie tried to stay out of the combat as much as he could, since he truly had no skill for it. He tended to give orders to the others, including Dhaune, whom he used to confuse the constructs.

Dhaune also studied their interactions more closely, especially since she had planted seeds of mistrust inside of their minds. It was interesting to watch—Laura and Aelita had apparently hated each other ever since they'd met, and after Dhaune had lied to Laura, having told the Fair that Aelita had said she'd belonged to a group of freedom fighters intent of assassinating the King to restore Elvhenan, the two could barely stand to look at one another, which had crippled what little cooperation had existed between them. William and Ulrich were rivals, and all it had taken was a lie about drow mating habits to stifle their relationship. Dhaune reminded Jeremie of Odd's past 'companions', and while at first the Wise Man didn't seem to mind, he changed his mind after the slave had lied about a look the Scout had given the Outcast.

Yumi was different. She was close with many of the group, even Jeremie and Aelita, whom she had only known for a short time. The slave had tried telling the Colonist that Ulrich had claimed to be the best martial artist in Capital Lyoko, and she'd only laughed and said that Ulrich had always been that way. She'd even tried saying that Aelita had said the Nihonjin culture was afraid of magic, and Yumi agreed, and even admitted that the Nihonjin feared things that were considered 'non-magical gifts' in Lyoko, like telekinesis. Dhaune actually admired Yumi's confidence in her friends.

In fact, Dhaune admired many things in Yumi. She was beautiful, strong and talented, as well as very knowledgeable of both Lyoko and Nippon cultures. This was not mentioning Yumi had wanted to help Dhaune from the start.

With some help from Laura, Dhaune had improved her illusion magic. She hoped this meant that the Fair trusted her. She also hoped this meant she could use her illusion magic on the teens without them becoming suspicious.

She got her chance when Jeremie asked Dhaune and Aelita to go down to a nearby river to bring back water. Aelita had been all too willing to help Jeremie, though even Dhaune knew that if Laura had asked her, or even William (whom Dhaune had convinced her wanted to help Laura destroy the remaining wilder elves), she would have shouted that she wasn't her slave.

"So… Dhaune, what do you think of Jeremie?" Aelita asked, not so discreetly. Oh, it was painfully obvious to Dhaune that Aelita had a crush on Jeremie. It was an easily exploitable trait.

She shook her head. "I don't really think anything of him, except that he's our leader and I respect him." She grinned. "Why? What do you think of him?"

The Outcast blushed. "I—I think of him in the same way. As our leader, I mean. And that I respect him. And… just between you and me…" Aelita blushed harder and spoke partly into her hand. "I also think he's really cute!"

Dhaune pretended she didn't know what Aelita meant. "For a shem, you mean," She said, her words harsh but not bitter.

Aelita recoiled. "No, not like that! You make it sound so condescending." She looked down to the river, which was clear and swift. It was also bitterly cold, turning Aelita's fingers blue as she filled the pot.

Dhaune filled her pot as well. "But you are one of the People. Aren't there rules about mating with shemlen?" While she did this, she created an invisible aura of sadness and broken heartedness.

The Outcast's shoulders sank along with her heart. "I'm not sure, but…" She looked back to the river. Had Edna spoken to her about rules like that? She could almost hear her hahren in her mind, scolding her for watching a cute human boy her age play soldier with his friends. Aelita could feel the shame that rose in her cheeks as Edna talked to her about purity of race. But all of these memories were hazy. She shrugged it off as her mind trying to keep Edna's image as pure as possible out of respect for the dead. "I can't help the way I feel."

"Are you sure he feels the same way?" Dhaune asked, continuing to project her aura. "After all, you've seen the way Laura looks at him. Human marriages aren't usually arranged for love, are they? And you've seen firsthand how they treat our kind. What makes you think Jeremie is different? What makes you think he cares about you as more than a pawn in a dangerous game of strategy?"

Aelita remembered clearly Jeremie writing off the elven culture as strange and incomprehensible. In all the time she'd known him—which was only a month in two days—he'd never asked her about her culture, or about her clan, or even about her vallaslin—what he so humanly called 'markings.' Did Jeremie not care about her in the same way she cared for him? Did he harbor those same racist feelings that made her hate Laura?

The elves went back to camp, where Jeremie smiled at Aelita warmly. She hung her head and refused to look him in the eye. Confused, Jeremie looked to Dhaune. "Do you know if something is bothering her?" He asked.

"Aelita? Oh, no, she just found out that you have a crush on her, and that's awkward because the People forbid their women from lying with human men." Dhaune explained.

Jeremie's face turned pink when she said that he had a crush on Aelita, and an even darker shade when she brought up the forbidden love. "I—I don't want to lie with her," He said, unable to meet the slave's eyes as she created an aura of anger. "I just want… to get to know her…" The aura started to take hold. "How did she find out?" He asked.

Dhaune had actually heard Jeremie talking in his sleep when she was going through Ulrich's tent to find something she could use against him, but that wouldn't work to create mistrust among the Heroes. "She said that she overheard Ulrich talking to Odd about how you talk in your sleep." It was a plausible lie. Ulrich was a light sleeper, and he told Odd just about everything.

Jeremie glared over his shoulder at the Mercenary, and then stormed off. Dhaune faked a smile at him, one that almost looked sympathetic. In truth, Ulrich was probably her least favorite member of the group, if only because he was suspicious of her. They avoided each other most of the time, except when creating doubt about William. It was far easier to feed mistrust already there than to create it.

Dhaune found Yumi, and wanted to test a different kind of illusion. It would still cause subversion, so Xana would not mind, but it wasn't a dark spell. Not entirely, anyway. "Hello, Yumi. I wanted to thank you for yesterday." The day before, they had been waiting for Jeremie and Laura to convince the mayor of a small town to increase fortifications and train their guards better when a group of boys started barking at Dhaune as a way of saying she was ugly. Yumi had shouted at them, and it was then that Dhaune accepted her crush on Yumi.

The fact she had a crush on Yumi was not a surprise for Dhaune. She'd known for many years that she was a lesbian, though she'd never had a chance to act upon her feelings due to the generally held belief that she wasn't attractive—had she possessed red eyes and white hair, or even if her skin wasn't blotched, it may have been a different story.

Yumi smiled. As far as she knew, Dhaune was an insecure girl who saw Yumi as an older sister, or a close friend. It was almost as if Yumi didn't know how attractive she really was. "Oh, don't think anything of it, Dhaune. Really, I only did what was right." The Colonist said.

Dhaune shook her head. "But you didn't have to, and that's why I'm thanking you. Come on, Yumi, at least let me make you… tea or something!" She realized then that Yumi probably didn't drink tea.

Yumi tried not to take it personally and said, "No, really, that's okay."

Dhaune smiled. "Please?"

"Well… okay." Yumi smiled, and Dhaune grabbed a kettle from the aravel. She prepared tea over the fire, and enchanted the tea leaves. The slave really only knew how to make dark elf teas, which often involved ingredients found underground. This would be a fact that Dhaune would leave out when she presented it to the Colonist.

Yumi drank tea with her family, and she tried to hold back a cough that came from this particular concoction. Nevertheless she smiled and drank it, though the more she did the lighter her head felt. She shook her head, holding it in her hands. "Yumi! Are you alright?" Dhaune asked, concern honest in her voice.

She looked up at the dark elf, her vision blurry for a moment. Then, a strange and new feeling gathered in her throat. She looked away, her face turning pink. "Have…. Have I ever told you I like the way you wear your hair?" Yumi said suddenly, her vision clearing but everything around her looking awfully pink.

Dhaune was honestly taken aback, almost forgetting it was the tea and not truly Yumi. But there was such honesty in Yumi's eyes—was Yumi complimenting her because of the spell, or was she trying to ignore that feeling Dhaune already felt. "My… hair?" Dhaune asked. "No, you haven't. Thank you."

Yumi smiled. "It's very pretty, and it suits you. And I like that it is simple, not like the hairstyles some women wear in Nippon. Have you seen them? They take hours to do properly, and you have to sleep with a board under your neck to keep them perfect." She shook her head again. "But here I am, rambling. I was just trying to give you a compliment."

"I don't mind your rambling,"

* * *

12th of Solis

Ulrich watched as Yumi sat next to Dhaune at dinner, and as they chatted quietly to themselves. William seemed to notice it too, but didn't glare like the Mercenary did. He leaned over to ask Jeremie, "Have you noticed anything abnormal about Yumi recently?"

Jeremie got up and moved away from him. "I don't want to talk to you, Ulrich." He said.

Confused, Ulrich shook his head. Odd sat down next to him, and Aelita sat on his other side. "Shouldn't you go sit next to Jeremie, kitten? I thought the two of you were friends."

Aelita hung her head. "I don't really think he likes me. I think he's just being nice to me because he thinks that I'm important in his game." She said sadly.

"Aelita, that's crazy. He's crazy about you!" Odd said.

Aelita simply shrugged and picked at her plate. Ulrich looked back at Yumi and Dhaune, who were giggling. "Have you noticed anything strange about Yumi?" The Mercenary asked, not taking his eyes of the two girls.

Odd agreed, "Yeah, she has been a little distant, hasn't she? She and Dhaune must be close, and I mean really close." There was insinuation in his voice.

"What are you saying, Odd?" Ulrich demanded.

"I'm just saying that maybe Yumi and Dhaune are… lovers. Or soon will be." Odd explained.

Ulrich's eyes widened. "You don't really think that, do you, Odd?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"I've known you for thirteen years. If I had a problem with that, you of all people would know."

"That isn't what I meant—however appreciated," Odd crossed his legs, and before he explained, he asked Aelita if she was going to finish her food. She handed him her plate. "I'm just saying that you've denied having a crush on Yumi for so long, I almost began to believe it. Since Yumi isn't in a relationship with you, you can't really comment on it, can you?"

It wasn't that Yumi was in a relationship with Dhaune that bothered him, but the time frame in which it happened. Dhaune had been travelling with the Heroes for twelve days, and it seemed that Odd was right in his idea that they were soon to be lovers. Ulrich and Yumi had known each other for years, and in all that time, she'd never rushed into a relationship. This was out of character for her.

* * *

13th of Solis

Dhaune woke Yumi before sunrise, much to the Colonist's annoyance. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She mumbled sleepily.

"Come on, Yumi. Get ready. I want to go into town before all the commotion starts, but we need to sneak out of camp after I wake William for his watch." Dhaune explained, and she left the tent. Yumi reluctantly rose, dressing quickly and sneaking around the aravel to wait for Dhaune. The dark elf joined her, and they snuck away.

* * *

It was a loud start to the day as Jeremie and Ulrich began fighting over virtually nothing. It was a heated argument, complete with insults and curse words. But it wasn't out of the ordinary since Dhaune arrived until they tried to justify their anger. Ulrich shouted that Jeremie wanted to use Aelita, and was angry just as a protective older brother would be. Jeremie shouted that Ulrich had been sharing Jeremie's secrets with Odd. Both protested that they had never said or done what they were accused of, and demanded to know who had lied to the other. Only one name came back—Dhaune. There was an awkward pause. "Ulrich, do you see a common denominator here?" Jeremie asked with his eyebrows furrowed in anger. When the Mercenary nodded, the Wise Man turned to the others in the party. "Has Dhaune told any of you things about us?"

William spoke up. "She said that Ulrich planned to buy Yumi off of her parents rather than court her properly."

Ulrich was shocked. "What? That's ridiculous!" But it was suspicious, surely. "She also said that you planned to use her once and throw her away because that was how drow mating habits worked."

The Vanguard shook his head. "No, that isn't true."

Laura looked at Aelita. "She said that you were part of a group that wanted to murder me and my father to put into motion a war that would restore Elvhenan," She said.

Aelita clearly was not impressed by this, as she crossed her arms and spoke almost monotone. "Laura, use your head. There are thrice as many humans as elves, including those in cities. The elvhen would perish in such a war. Groups that want a war like that exist, but only in Arlathan, and they aren't usually allowed outside the city walls." She explained. She uncrossed her arms. "She implied that you wanted to see me in slavery again."

"Believe it or not, Aelita, I am firmly against slavery." Laura rolled her eyes.

Odd looked around at the group. "Has Dhaune tried to turn us against each other?" He asked.

Jeremie looked at him. "It would seem so," He said. "The question is, but why?"

William walked over to Yumi's tent. "She and Yumi are close. Maybe Yumi knows something we don't." He opened the flap, and with a sigh, he said, "She isn't here!"

"What about Dhaune? Are they both gone?" Ulrich asked. Odd ran over to the aravel and nodded. "Shit! What if they ran away together?"

Jeremie grinned. "I can find out where Yumi is, at least."

Aelita looked at the others. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. Maybe Yumi found out before we did and gave chase to Dhaune," She said hopefully.

Jeremie closed his eyes and pictured Yumi, her eyes when they had last spoken. After a few moments, his eyes snapped open and he covered his mouth with his hand, and then he held his forehead in his hand. "I just saw something I shouldn't have seen," He muttered quietly.

William laughed. "What does that mean?"

"I don't think Yumi would ever forgive me if I said," Jeremie murmured. "Anyway, they're in town. If we hurry, we may be able to catch them."

* * *

Dhaune and Yumi sat in the tavern, laughing. "This has been so much fun! I don't remember ever smiling this much." Dhaune said, smiling amorously at Yumi.

Yumi opened her mouth to say something when Ulrich and Laura entered the tavern and approached them. Laura grabbed Dhaune's tunic, which had been graciously repaired by Aelita several days ago, and Ulrich grabbed Yumi. "Can we talk to you ladies for a minute?" Ulrich spat.

Yumi tossed a few copper pieces on the table, and they left the tavern. Ulrich and Laura didn't let them stop until they were outside of town, where the others waited. "Dhaune, I think you had better explain yourself," William hissed.

Dhaune realized her plan had come undone. "I—I don't know what you mean," She lied.

"You've been spreading lies about us, Dhaune!" Jeremie shouted. "Why would you do that? Even after we helped you? We trusted you!"

Ulrich pushed Dhaune. "Who are you working for? Who hired you to tear us apart from the inside?" He demanded.

Yumi pushed Ulrich. "Don't push her, Ulrich! I'm sure this is just a huge misunderstanding!"

Laura shook her head. "This isn't a misunderstanding, Yumi! Dhaune has been talking about us behind our backs, and you're the only one who didn't hear something!" Accusingly, she asked, "Did you have something to do with her plan?"

"What plan, Your Highness? I cannot believe Dhaune to be so malicious!" Yumi said.

Jeremie looked at Aelita. "Maybe Yumi is possessed?" He offered.

The Outcast shook her head. "Not possessed." She said, and she walked over to the Colonist and examined her eyes. "But… charmed is more likely."

Yumi pushed Aelita away. "I'm not under any spell! I love Dhaune, and you're all jumping to conclusions."

"Thank you, Yumi," Dhaune smiled.

"Yes, thank you, Yumi," A voice echoed Dhaune's, and the group jumped at this. Smoke traveled along the tree branches, and it collected in the form of a woman. She had skin the color of blue ash, and her eyes were yellow, but cold like amber. Jeremie recognized them as the eyes from the nightmare that had started it all. Her hair was as white as snow, and the black markings on her face came down from her eyes, her lips and a dot between her eyebrows. Aelita identified the markings of meaning 'fen'asha' or 'wolf woman'.

No one but Dhaune knew her, but the slave was the most surprised. "Matron Mother!" She exclaimed. Dhaune fell to her knees in reverence. "I am sorry that I failed you, Matron Mother." She apologized.

Xana laughed. "On the contrary, Dhaune. You did very well until now." She continued to praise her. "And it was brilliant of you to seduce the Colonist. How easily the secrets of friends come out when a human is in love." She laughed coldly.

Yumi felt her heart break into a hundred pieces. "…Dhaune? Please tell me she's lying."

Dhaune looked up slowly. "I love you, Yumi. I didn't mean for it to end like this, emma lath." She said, unable to lie anymore, unable to admit her treachery. How easily the lies had come when they trusted her, but now that they knew, she felt as small as she'd ever been. She stood, and in a last effort to keep Yumi to herself, she came up with an idea. "Please, come with us! We'll treat you better than any human ever could. Slaves will wait on you hand and foot. You can even see your brother again!" Dhaune begged her lover, as if luxury could make up for what she had done.

Yumi backed away, and angrily, she drew her Tessen fan and threw it. Dhaune was enveloped in smoke before it struck her, and she reappeared at Xana's side. "You heartless _bitch!_ I trusted you, and you used me! You used all of us!" Yumi shouted as the spell faded. But her words were still hurt like the betrayal of a lover, and Dhaune realized the spell had worked so well because Yumi's feelings were secretly there, too. The guilt was like a vile, black weight.

The Heroes prepared to attack the drow, but in a burst of smoke, they were gone. Yumi started crying, out of frustration and because she felt like she was dying of something worse than death—betrayal.

* * *

Dhaune held in her hands on thing Yumi had given to her—a perfect river stone, worn down into the shape of a koi fish. It was smooth and cool, and as Xana entered Dhaune's new chambers, she hid it under her pillow. "I trust that the slaves were effective in preparing this room for the new general of my armies?" Xana said, pride in her voice.

"Yes, Matron Mother. I am very content here." Dhaune said as she tried to hide her sadness.

"Good," Xana smiled. "Oh, and bravo on your performance topside. I believe that the Colonist may never recover." She waved good-bye.

Dhaune hung her head in shame. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, and she'd never felt uglier. She grabbed the river stone and threw it as hard as she could, shattering the mirror like Yumi's heart. She wouldn't cry—no, crying was weakness. The general stood, and she called for an Overseer. "Fetch Hiroki Ishiyama. I wish him to be my personal servant, and no one is to lay a hand on him—do I make myself clear?" The Overseer agreed, and went to find the boy-slave. This was probably the only kindness Dhaune could afford to give.


	9. Summer 9

This episode goes out to my new beta reader, Lost Lantean!

_Episode 9: Moonborn_

21st of Solis

"We're about ten days from the city of Kadic." Jeremie announced that morning at breakfast. Kadic was the largest non-port city, and also had the highest collection of magistrates, who hunted blood magicians and those who were possessed by demons. "I'm hoping that we can get there without Xana turning her eye on us. We've been lucky these past few days." He said. The Wise Man was correct—they hadn't seen any of Xana's constructs since Dhaune had been revealed to be a traitor.

Laura sat up. "She probably thinks that we're too busy tearing each other apart,"

It hadn't been directed at the Colonist, but Yumi still visibly grew angry. "I swear to the gods, Dhaune will pay for what she has done." She hissed. Yumi was still beating herself up over Dhaune's treachery, even though it had happened eight days ago.

Aelita placed her hand on Yumi's shoulder. "It wasn't just you who was fooled by Dhaune, lethallan. We all were—"

Just then, Odd came out of the woods, carrying several birds and part of a deer in his hands. "Good morning, everybody!" He said cheerily, with not a hint of shame in his voice, "I think I've got enough food to keep us fat for days!"

Ulrich wasn't impressed. "You left your post last night, Odd. Where did you go?" He demanded.

"Don't be such a hard ass, Ulrich," Odd replied lightheartedly as he moved towards the aravel. "I just went hunting. We have to eat, you know, and we're nowhere close to a town."

William looked at him strangely, but still helped him get the food inside of the aravel. "But didn't you go hunting yesterday? And the night before…"

Laura crossed her arms. "In fact, you've been hunting every night this week." She cocked her head to the side. "What's going on, Odd?"

Odd raised his arms defensively. "Nothing is going on!" He denied.

None of the Heroes were convinced of this answer, but it was obvious that they would get nothing further out of him. They packed up the camp, and proceeded to travel down the road. Lyoko truly was beautiful, especially in this forest. But when travelling through the forest there were risks such as orc raiders and bandits, as well as more mundane problems.

Aelita lifted up her foot to examine it. "Ugh, I think I stepped in something." She complained.

Yumi laughed. "Aelita, I keep telling you to get yourself a good pair of boots! Like mine, for example." Yumi motioned to her thigh-high boots, which were steel-toed. She called them 'fashionable and functional.'

The Outcast didn't seem to see it that way. "Oh, Yumi, I could never wear boots like yours! I'd get lost in them! I keep dropping stones in them, and they take forever to reach the bottom!" She sounded honestly distressed.

Yumi opened her mouth to reply, but what Aelita had said stopped her, and she thought for a moment. "Wait. Is that the reason I've been finding pebbles in my boots?"

Aelita jumped a little. "No!" She said quickly. She looked forward and searched for anything to change the subject. "Jeremie, you have a hole in the back of your shirt."

Jeremie sighed. "I know, but I can't mend it." Before she could ask, he explained, "Whenever I try to, I pick up too much fabric and the shirt puckers and hangs strange afterwards."

Aelita ran over to the side of the aravel and struggled to jump onto the shelf with a knapsack. She grabbed a needle and thread. "I can mend it for you. We don't even need to stop." She started to med the shirt as they were walking.

Laura looked at her skeptically. "You know how to sew?"

The Outcast glared at the Fair. "Why do you say that, Laura? Why can't I have practical skills?" She demanded.

"Ow! Aelita, don't forget that I'm still in this shirt!" Jeremie reminded her when she accidently stabbed him with the sewing needle.

"Sorry," Aelita replied a bit sheepishly.

Laura simply shook her head before turning to Ulrich. "You look awfully grumpy, Ulrich." She teased.

Odd spoke up. "He's always grumpy. I call him Ulrich the Grouch,"

"Is there any reason I should smile? After I realized Odd left his post last night I had to cover a double shift. I'm exhausted." Ulrich glared at Odd. "Don't think I've forgotten that. You owe me big time, Della-Robbia."

William laughed. "The two of you sound like an old married couple. More specifically, my grandparents."

* * *

Several hours later, the sun was going down and all of the Heroes had gone off to bed with the exception of Jeremie, who had volunteered for first watch. He sat by the fire with his book, studying battle strategies and ways to improve his telepathic connection with the other Heroes. He looked up as Odd tried to sneak out of his tent. "Odd! Where are you going?" Jeremie asked.

Odd stopped dead in his tracks. "I was just going to go hunting."

Jeremie shook his head. "Are you out of your mind, Odd? You've been hunting every night this week. If we carry any more meat with us, not only will we attract drow constructs but wolves and other predators! Go back to bed," He shook his head as Odd rolled his eyes and reentered the tent.

* * *

The teens were awoken suddenly by the sound of Laura's scream. They all scrambled out of their tents, and they too screamed when the saw a monster holding the princess, who had been keeping watch, in its mouth. It was nearly six feet tall, with long fingers and paws, as well as mangy dark fur. It had a long snout and white whiskers. It dropped the Fair when it saw that the Heroes were watching, and stared at them with orange eyes.

The teenagers were face to face with a werewolf.

"Werewolf! Kill the monster!" Jeremie ordered, and the teens drew their weapons. The Wise Man waited for Yumi and Ulrich to draw the beast's attention before dragging Laura to safety. "Are you alright?"

Laura nodded. "I'll be okay. I just need to heal my wounds." Jeremie nodded and tried to leave, but she grabbed his arm. "Jeremie, wait! I have to tell you something!" She hissed.

Jeremie pulled his arm away and drew his sword. "It'll have to wait, Your Highness. We can't let this monster hurt anyone else!" He said, and he ran to help the others.

William tried to slice off one of the monster's legs, but it was swifter and with one slice of its great arms sent the Vanguard across the camp. Yumi tried to take it down by knocking him off its feet with her bo staff, but it jumped and sent her reeling back with a swift kick to her abdomen. Ulrich was the first to engage the monster head on, and managed to slice at the werewolf several times before it knocked him out of the way too.

Aelita sent a boulder at it from behind, holding Erahalam in her hands. After dodging her missile the creature stalked towards her, and she used the staff to send electricity through the monster. It shrugged it off easily, and picked up the Outcast then threw her. She struck the side of the aravel and slumped down the side with a pained groan. The monster, seeing no further threat, started to leave, and Jeremie jumped on its back. The Wise Man slashed at the monster's chest and it grabbed him, throwing him back into the camp.

Laura, apparently done healing, ran to help, but cursed quietly upon her discovery that the monster was gone. She helped William, who was closest to her, stand, and healed the wound that resulted from the claws. "Thank you, Your Majesty. That… thing is unstoppable!" William said.

"Exactly. We cannot hope to stop that thing in its present form. We have to wait until the sun rises." Laura said, and the rest of the group walked towards them.

"Did any of you notice that the werewolf wasn't trying to hurt us?" Yumi asked, trying to work through the pain in her gut. "I mean, it wanted to get us out of the way, but it didn't go out of its way to kill us."

Jeremie shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We have to kill the thing before it kills someone." He looked around, "where is Odd? Don't tell me he slept through all this."

Ulrich ran to Odd's tent. "He's gone, and his clothes are all ripped up." He announced as he showed the others the remnants of Odd's clothes.

Laura seemed confused as she walked over to the Scout's tent. "The werewolf couldn't have gotten him. I spotted it as soon as it arrived." She said as she examined the ripped vest.

Aelita crossed her arms. "I think we all know that we cannot depend on your eyes, Laura." She looked away towards the path the werewolf took. "And now Odd has paid the price for it."

William looked to Aelita angrily. "Watch where you throw your accusations, wilder! You're speaking to your princess, after all."

"She is no princess of mine!" The Outcast protested.

Jeremie interrupted them. "We can discuss politics later! Right now, we have to find the werewolf!"

William searched around the campfire, and he found a clump of fur. "Look—the beast left fur. Maybe we can track it."

The Wise Man took the fur. "Odd's been training me in tracking. I may be able to find it."

The group headed into the woods, dousing the fire to prevent it from spreading. Jeremie directed them through the trees, and they eventually found the monster feeding on a bandit in the remains of an abandoned house which had apparently been destroyed by a dragon. The teens prepared to fight, but the creature sprinted off. Giving chase, they cornered the werewolf at the edge of a cliff.

The group pressed in on the landward sides of the trapped monster, confident that this engagement would go better than the last. The monster watched patiently but didn't fight the encircling teens. Instead it patiently bided its time, responding only aggressively enough to prevent the teens from pushing it over the edge. Increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress, William finally lost his temper and charged in recklessly, managing only to reach the edge and fall as the werewolf sidestepped. He would have plummeted to his death had the monster not turned, caught, and lifted him to safety.

Jeremie, seeing this, sheathed his blade. "Stand down!" He ordered, and he closed his eyes to visualize Odd in his head. Sure enough, Jeremie could see himself as well as the other Heroes inside of his head. "That werewolf isn't an unthinking monster! That's Odd!" The werewolf nodded and howled, shaking the leaves from its sheer volume. The teens relaxed, sheathing their blades, fans and staffs. Odd the Werewolf tugged on Jeremie's shirt. "What do you need?" The Wise Man asked in his head, directing it towards the Scout.

"Clothes. Mine ripped and the rest of my wardrobe is back at camp." The Scout explained. The Wise Man nodded, and went back to the abandoned house, searching through wardrobes until he found a change of clothes. When he returned with them, they all tried to get comfortable. They felt they could do nothing else but wait until sunrise.

Several hours later, Odd the Werewolf howled as he went through his painful transformation back into a boy. The girls turned as he returned to his true form, and he looked embarrassedly at the other boys. "Uh… so, who let the dogs out?" He asked sheepishly.

William was livid. "That's all you can say? 'Who let the dogs out?' We chased you halfway across this Creator-forsaken forest, and on top of that we were ready to kill you, and all you can say is 'who let the dogs out!?'" Odd laughed, but William kept shouting. "Oh boy, you had better tell us who let the dogs out, or you're going to find out who framed Roger Rabbit!"

Odd laughed, but he agreed to tell the story.

* * *

Thirteen-year-old Odd Della-Robbia carefully took aim at a deer, and with a deep breath in, fired his arrow. The arrow found its target, killing the deer instantly. Celebrating, Odd climbed down the tree, collected his game and started back towards Capital Lyoko. No doubt the humans would be impressed that such a small elf could take down a buck, but the elves would be impressed that an elf would be allowed to hunt at all.

Suddenly, Odd was being carried, and when he looked up, he saw a werewolf. Odd screamed, and he tried desperately to break free. However, the young boy was unable to reach his quiver, his bow or even his iron dagger. He tried to wiggle free, but the werewolf held him tighter, carrying him into a suspicious cavern.

Inside the cavern were many banners and standing lamps. A tall man with long platinum blond hair approached the werewolf, and just by looking at the man, Odd could see he was a vampire. He had high cheekbones and blood red eyes. Odd started to panic, fearful that the vampire would suck his blood, or worse, turn him into an undead creature of the night himself. Instead, the vampire held the boy's head in his palm, examining his neck and mulling something over inside his mind. "He won't survive the turning, I think. Did you find him starving in a gutter? He's so scrawny."

"I'm not scrawny; I'm svelte!" Odd protested, and regretted it immediately.

The hold of the werewolf grew tighter and its claws began to sink into Odd's flesh as the monster prepared for the master's response. Surprisingly the Vampire Lord cackled. "He has spirit. It is such a shame that he'd die before the venom turns him." The man sighed loudly, and waved the werewolf off. "Oh, just kill him. Dump his body in the woods or something. No one need know."

A female with long black hair approached the man. "Sir, maybe we could turn him into another lycan servant?" She suggested, "We could always use another watchdog to look over our coffins."

The man seemed impressed with her ingenuity. Calling the werewolf back, he bid it to follow him, and they entered the bowels of the cavern. The werewolf dropped Odd, who tried to escape. The raven-haired vampire blocked his exit. The man with platinum blond hair sliced open the arm of the werewolf, and he ordered the woman to drag Odd to the bowl full of blood. Together they forced the bowl past the lips and between the teeth of the teenager, holding his head back so that he was forced to swallow the coppery liquid or drown in it. Once it was down they dropped the gagging teen to the ground. His heart started beating faster, and his muscles began to swell as he underwent the first of many painful transitions.

Odd the Werewolf roared, running out of the cavern and looking for prey in the forest. Before the moon hid for the night, Odd killed a herd of deer and a hunter. His forbearer, the werewolf whose blood had been used to turn him, approached him that morning. His forbearer was not a wizened old man or a warrior under unfortunate circumstances but rather a beautiful young elven woman of Southern decent.

Not much was really known about the Uncharted South, mostly because it was uncharted, but also because the people there were supposedly frightening savages. However, this beautiful girl in front of him was neither frightening nor savage. Her skin was dark, and her hair was black except for the two red streaks in her bangs. "My name is Samantha Knight. I guess we'll be getting real close." She introduced herself.

They did indeed get close. Odd and Sam became lovers, and plotted their escape for two months, believing this would be an adequate amount of time to properly gain the Vampire Lord's trust. On the third full moon Odd spent as a werewolf, he and Sam slaughtered the entire coven. Odd had taken the Vampire Lord's brooch to prove to his family what he had done. Sam stayed in Capital Lyoko for a time, but the two had a falling out and hadn't spoken since.

Up until that fateful day three years later, Odd had skillfully hidden his beast form. He had to, or the magistrates would hound him like they would a blood magician. He kept the brooch with him as a reminder of his past, and a hope that it couldn't dictate his future.

* * *

Ulrich spoke up. "I remember Sam. She always was a little strange." He reminisced.

Aelita shuddered. "Poor thing! I can only imagine what being a slave to a vampire is like."

Odd shrugged. "Sam never spoke about her time as a werewolf to me. I mean, at all. I don't even know how or why she was turned, only that vampires historically have werewolf slaves to scare away hunters, collect blood and protect their coffins." He held the brooch in his hand, remembering the time he spent with Sam.

"Don't you want to be human again, Odd?" Laura asked, and when Aelita tried to argue that Odd wasn't entirely human anyway, she held up a finger to silence her.

"Do I want to be human again? No!" Odd said. "Did you see me as a werewolf? Not only am I in complete control during my transformations, but I'm also stronger and faster. Why would I give that up?"

Jeremie reasoned with him. "But aren't you worried you might lose control?"

"I've been undergoing transformations for three years now, Belpois. I'm totally in control." Odd reinforced the idea that he could control himself. He looked at William. "Well, that's the story on who let the dogs out. Are you satisfied, tall, dark and suspicious?" William huffed, and the Heroes laughed.


	10. Summer 10

_Chapter 10: Roses_

27th of Solis

When compared with other villages the Heroes had visited, Heartwood was a bustling city, and it seemed like they'd arrived in the middle of a festival. The city was covered with ribbons and banners, many of which had stars painted on them, and a band played in the town square. Aelita pointed to a large tree on the east side of town, which she identified as a vhenadahl. This particular tree was covered in unlit lanterns, and the branches shaded the gate, over which hung a colorful banner, though the teenagers were too far away to read it. "This must be a very special holiday for the elves to take the time to decorate the vhenadahl." Aelita commented.

"I think the people of Heartwood will take any opportunity they can get to celebrate." Odd shrugged. He leaned back on his heels. "As the name suggests, they're in love with love. I wouldn't put it past them to be celebrating some preteen's first kiss."

Jeremie opened his book bag and read through his calendar. "No, tonight is a special celebration of the stars, I think." Reading a few more pages, he added, "It says here that the inhabitants of Heartwood have star charts that are so accurate they can predict when shooting stars will fall."

Aelita smiled. "The elves had a similar holiday, back in the days of Elvhenan." She looked back to the vhenadahl with a dreamy expression. "They said that if you were to watch the stars fall while sitting at the base of the vhenadahl, you were sure to find your one true love!"

Laura rolled her eyes. "There is nothing special about stars or shooting stars. They won't lead you to love, or treasure, or enlightenment." She said flatly, clearly not impressed.

William laughed. "Why so glum, Your Highness? Don't you believe in love?"

"Love in it of itself? Yes. That falling stars will lead you to someone you'll love for the rest of your life and never falter from? No." The Fair elaborated. It was a fairly grim outlook. "Anyway, we're only two days from Kadic now. We can't afford to stop anymore."

Yumi shook her head. "We haven't run into any of Xana's constructs, or any more of her agents. I don't see why we can't stop here." She rubbed a sore spot on her back. "Besides, I can't remember the last time I slept in a real bed."

"The rest of us can remember the last time you slept in a real bed," Odd muttered, and Yumi threatened to slap him.

Ulrich looked at Jeremie. "Yumi's right. We've been walking nonstop for days. We deserve a chance to rest."

Jeremie looked like he was about to disagree, but Odd motioned discreetly to Aelita. "You heard the elf. This is probably the most romantic holiday for the wilders." He murmured. Continuing in a low voice he added, "there are bound to be lots of fun things to do for two in Heartwood…" Jeremie considered this.

The Wise Man glanced quickly at the Outcast and then around the rest of the group and nodded. "I'm inclined to agree with Yumi and Ulrich."

Laura huffed, not at all discreetly. "Fine. Fine! Go gallivanting about this gods-forsaken city if that's what you want. Just know that with this romantic atmosphere, disaster is in the cards!" She spun around on her heel, and headed back to the aravel. "Do whatever you want, Jeremie."

William leaned in closer to Jeremie. "Go for it! Don't put up with her passive aggressive deer shit!" He then turned and followed Laura back to the aravel.

Yumi, Ulrich, Odd and Aelita looked anxiously at Jeremie. The Wise Man smiled. "I guess we're staying for the festival. But first things first—we have to warn the mayor that the dark elves are on the move." He declared. A small cheer escaped them.

* * *

As Jeremie went inside the town hall to speak to the mayor while Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi watched as the inhabitants of Heartwood set up the festival. Odd nudged Ulrich, and then subtly motioned towards Yumi. "Go on, man. Make your move." He pressured quietly.

Aelita nodded. "It's painfully obvious that you like her, Ulrich. There's no better time than now to ask her." She grinned. "Jeremie agreed to let us stay in the city for the festival, and if Xana has her way, this dry streak won't last long."

With Odd and Aelita pressuring him, Ulrich gathered his courage and turned to Yumi. "So, uh, Yumi. Since we've got the night off and everything, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe… go out with me?" He asked with a fire burning behind his cheeks. Nervous, he slammed his eyes shut, preparing for what he felt was his inevitable rejection.

Yumi smiled brightly. "I'd love to,"

Ulrich opened his eyes. "Say what?" He asked, and then smiled. "That's great!"

* * *

Dhaune watched as Xana planned her attacks against the northern colonies, hoping to box in the King, who had been confirmed to be taking refuge in Carthage. The former slave looked to the pool of holy water collected from the priestesses at the Temple of the Destruction Mother, and she walked over to it. She performed a simple spell Xana had shown her, and dunked her head into the water.

Opening her eyes, she could see Yumi, and she felt a painful weight in her heart grow heavier when she saw a smile on her former lover's face. That weight transformed into a raging fire when Dhaune observed the Mercenary approach Yumi and take her hand. Strange emotions filled the general. Had Yumi moved on so quickly? Why had she moved on to Ulrich? Was she trying to make Dhaune angry and jealous?

Dhaune pulled her head from the pool of water, knowing there was only one option. "Matron Mother?" She called.

Xana looked up, and she smiled at Dhaune. "Yes, General?"

"It would seem that the Colonist and the Mercenary are still travelling together. Do I have your permission to send constructs after them?" Dhaune asked, not letting on that she felt jealous and betrayed.

Xana cursed. "Yes, of course. Do whatever you have to do." She waved her off.

Dhaune bowed politely, and she left the war room, stopping to look at herself in the mirror. She'd put on weight after being promoted, and her leather armor showed off her newfound curves. Her blond hair was tied up in a bun. Her face, she noted harshly, was still nothing worth fawning over. The general went to the Overseer and ordered a group of monsters to target the brown-haired Hero, Ulrich Stern.

* * *

Aelita and Jeremy walked along one of the streets of Heartwood, admiring the decorations and talking quietly as they made their way to a tavern with open air seating. "…I find it very interesting that the inhabitants of Heartwood use the stars to tell time. I mean, I have charted stars, and they're always constant, but to dictate your calendar on stars? It really is peculiar." Jeremie said to Aelita as they sat down at a table.

Aelita sat up straighter. "You've charted stars? I wish I knew how to read star maps." She leaned forward. "The elves put a lot of stock into stars, too. We say our destinies are written among them, as well as other things."

Jeremie opened his mouth to say something when a human man walked by them. "Hey, blondie! What are you doing with a knife eared savage?" He shouted.

Aelita eyed him angrily. "Don't listen to him, Aelita. You're better than that." Jeremie warned her. She looked back to him with a smile, and she lifted her hand slightly off the table. The cobblestone street the man walked on encased his foot, and he struggled to escape. "Aelita! What are you doing?" Jeremie whispered a bit more harshly than intended. She turned away to continue watching the man. A cart rolled by with a barrel of water, and Aelita slammed her hand on the table. The cobblestone rippled and the cart bounced hard, spilling water onto the street. At the same time the cobblestone trap released the man in the middle of his latest effort to free his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground and straight into the newly created puddle of mud.

She started laughing, and Jeremie laughed too. The Outcast looked back to the Wise Man. "What were you saying, lethallin?"

* * *

Wanting to avoid the crowded city, Ulrich and Yumi sat at the edge of a lake on the Western Plains. They could still see Heartwood, and they could see the edge of the Scarwood Forest. "It's really hot right now. It'll probably be warm tonight too." Yumi said, watching the sky as the blue faded into pink and orange.

"Yeah, probably." Ulrich replied, watching her out of the corner of his eye. When she looked back at him, he swiftly pushed her into the lake. A short shriek ended with a large splash and Ulrich walked closer to the edge of the water laughing as Yumi surfaced. She surfaced and blew a wet strand of hair from her face, narrowing her eyes.

"So, that's how you want to play, huh?" She teased before yanking on Ulrich's leg. He landed beside her with a loud splash and came up only a moment later, spitting out the water he'd sucked in. Taking no pity on the boy, Yumi splashed warm water onto him, and he returned the favor. She pushed him under, and he pulled her leg out from under her, sending her back under. She came up for air a moment after Ulrich and, partially gasping and partially laughing, swam to the edge of the lake with Ulrich beside her.

With considerable effort, they pulled themselves with their sodden clothing out of the lake and came face to face with five of Xana's roaches. "Oh, not these things again! They're so creepy," She complained.

Ulrich looked to Yumi nervously. "I left my katanna back at the aravel. I didn't expect Xana to attack during a festival."

Yumi looked back at him. "So? Haven't you learned anything from our sparing contests?"

He frowned, and the two stood to face their attackers. With a nod between them, Ulrich ran one way, attracting the attention of the constructs and a second later Yumi maneuvered away to strike from behind. One of the roaches tried to fire its laser at Ulrich and he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the pulse of destructive light as the extra weight robbed him of some strength. Racing towards it, he kicked the construct into the lake just before it could fire again. It sparked, and struggled a bit before it finally sank beneath the surface. "Yumi! They're weak to water!" He shouted as he continued to battle his wet clothing in the process of avoiding getting shot.

She nodded, and took a deep breath in. She focused her telekinesis on the water in the lake and created a large bubble, carefully maneuvering it over the constructs. She dropped it suddenly, mentally exhausted. The constructs looked like they were having seizures before they collapsed on the plains. Yumi also collapsed; falling to her knees, her head in immense pain.

Ulrich watched her go down and rushed to her side, pausing only to grab one of the monsters' corpses after hearing the mechanical noise of a crab construct and seeing it taking aim. He slid towards her, holding the construct in front of him and blocked the laser that had been aimed for Yumi. "Get up! We've got three crabs headed our way!" He ordered while scrambling back into a standing position. Yumi struggled to stand.

* * *

Odd climbed a tree to watch the sun set. He looked at Laura and William, who sat around the campfire. Laura had refused to allow Jeremie to bring the aravel into Heartwood, so it still remained hidden in the Scarwood Forest, near a cliff that overlooked the Western Plains. Their horse, Rorkal, grazed free, clearly happy to be free of the aravel. "How do you think their dates are going?" Odd shouted down from his perch, the silence driving him mad.

"It isn't a date," The other two said sharply and simultaneously. They looked quickly towards one another, surprised that they were on the same page.

Odd laughed loudly. "Oh, please! Those four are obviously crushing big time. I just can't believe the guys had the balls to ask them out." He tapped his chest. "I'm not saying that I didn't pressure them or anything. But still, it is rare when they listen to me."

Laura raised her shoulders in anger. "It's rare when they listen to you? Jeremie listens to you every time he reads a map! I'm the one no one listens to!" She clenched her fists. "Gods! I feel like a total Cassandra! Just you watch—something will go wrong tonight and it won't be long before I'm right about Aelita, too!" She covered her mouth in shock.

William sat up. "Why? Did you see something in the future regarding Aelita?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, not a vision, per se. Just a… feeling." She clarified. "I am just hesitant to believe that the elves can sense demons, and did you see the staff she carries? It has a skull on it, for Minerva's sake!"

Odd looked up to the sky. "She says she named it Murray."

"Who cares, Odd?" Laura asked.

William looked at Laura intently. "Do you think that we should be more cautious around her, Your Highness?"

"Yes, but don't make it too obvious. I'm still trying to figure out what she could be hiding." Laura advised.

The Scout suddenly sat up when he saw a flash on the horizon, and he jumped down from the tree. He ran to the edge of the cliff, and he searched the horizon. "There! I see some of Xana's constructs!" He shouted, running to grab his bow and quiver. "Quickly! We can't let them destroy the city!"

* * *

Dhaune walked through the labyrinthine passages of the Matron's estate, knowing exactly where she was going. She wondered how many times she would walk those halls before the Destructor claimed her soul.

Her head jerked up as Dhaune heard the familiar sound of Yumi's laugh, and she started paying more attention to her surroundings. She thought she saw Yumi run out into the courtyard, home to prickly subterranean bushes and glowing mushrooms. The iron gate to the back alleys creaked open, despite having been locked before. She bolted through the gate, giving chase to her intruder.

The general chased a ghost for at least an hour before realizing she'd run a complete circle, and had returned to the courtyard. This time, however, it was not empty. Hiroki sat, tending to the plants as he had been ordered. "Hiroki, come here." Dhaune ordered. Hiroki jumped up and ran to Dhaune. She fell to her knees and buried her face into his hair, holding him tightly. For a moment, she convinced herself she held Yumi, but such fantasies could only be indulged for so long. "Get back to work." She said sharply.

Hiroki was fed up with Dhaune's sudden mood changes. This hadn't been the first time she'd hugged him, only to dismiss him cruelly. "My sister is coming for me! She won't stand for this!" He shouted.

"I know that your sister is coming for you, Hiroki." Dhaune said as she walked inside. "And I will be here when she does."

* * *

Yumi, after dumping water on the roaches and managing to stand up, was only trying her best not to get hit. Despite the lingering tiredness and headache, it was far easier for her than she thought as the crabs seemed to have targeted Ulrich. He had managed to evade them mostly, but he, too, was tiring. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," He said, panting. One of the crabs fired a laser at him and while he dodged the laser, he wasn't able to dodge its leg, which struck him hard in the arm.

She threw one of her fans, but the crab moved out of its way easily. "Neither do I," She huffed. The crab knocked Yumi aside then turned away from her and joined the others in focusing their lasers on Ulrich. By this time, Ulrich had recovered enough to turn over and see his fate. Unable to dodge or block their attacks, he stood as still as a deer when face-to-face with a hunter. "No! Ulrich, run!" Yumi shouted. When he didn't move she closed her eyes, trying to fight through the exhaustion to tap her telekinesis again.

The center crab was hit with an arrow, stopping it from firing. The other two crabs still fired, striking Ulrich and sending him flying into the lake, writhing in pain. A second later a fireball incinerated the crab on the far left, and William sliced at the leg of the final crab to bring it down. He stabbed the symbol on the crab's head and it collapsed into a pile of sparking parts.

William ran to Yumi while Laura waded into the water and fished Ulrich out enough to inspect his wounds. "Some of your physical wounds aren't as bad as they could be." She said as she began to heal the laser burns, "I think your arm has been dislocated though, and your ankle may have been sprained too." She diagnosed. "I can't heal those kinds of wounds. We need to get you to the aravel where I can properly bandage you."

William helped Yumi to her feet. "What about you, Yumi? Are you hurt?" He asked.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired." She said. "This was weird. It was like the monsters were specifically targeting Ulrich."

While William went to help Laura with Ulrich, Odd examined the crab he had shot. He snatched a piece of tattered fabric off of its leg. "Does this mean anything to you?" He asked the Colonist, throwing her the fabric.

She unwrapped it, and inside was a river stone in the shape of a koi fish. "Dhaune," She muttered, and she looked up. "Xana didn't send these monsters. Dhaune did."

Laura draped Ulrich's arm over her shoulder, and William supported his other side. "Are you sure, Yumi?"

She nodded. "I gave this stone to Dhaune. She sent this with the crabs because she wanted me to know who sent them." She didn't mention why Dhaune had done such a thing. They all knew. "Let's go back to the aravel. I don't want to look at this place anymore." Together they hobbled off and soon they were back at camp where Laura finished patching up Ulrich's arm. His ankle did not appear to be sprained, though it did ache. Yumi quietly asked Laura to leave so she could talk to Ulrich alone. "Some date, huh?" She asked, trying to keep her tone lighthearted.

"I couldn't have known that we would be ambushed by drow constructs." Ulrich said defensively, "If I had, I would've brought my katanna."

"This isn't about that, Ulrich!" She said sharply. "This is about Dhaune—look!" She showed him the river rock. "Dhaune sent those things there to kill you! Even if you had brought your katanna, we still would've been ambushed and we still would've been hurt!"

Ulrich huffed as he examined his arm. "It may not have ended so badly,"

Yumi folded her arms across her chest. "It may have ended worse!" She shouted. She shook her head. "I… didn't want to fight, Ulrich. I just came to tell you that we… can't do this."

He sat up straighter. "What do you mean, 'we can't do this'?" He demanded.

"Dhaune isn't just a slave anymore, Ulrich! She has power and influence!" The Colonist yelled. "She has to die before I can continue on with my life. And… that includes my love life. It's too dangerous to get close to me now." Yumi stood, not giving Ulrich a chance to reply. She walked out of the aravel, her heart carrying a thousand pound weight.

* * *

Night had finally fallen, and the stars were starting to appear. Jeremie and Aelita sat beneath the aravel, which after having its lanterns lit, now stood in the elven quarter of the city alone. Aelita cautiously moved closer to Jeremie, and he did the same. "Look! The first shooting star!" Aelita exclaimed, pointing to the silver streak that danced across the sky.

"You know, Aelita, humans often make wishes on shooting stars." Jeremie said.

"I didn't know that. Are you going to make a wish, Jeremie?" She asked.

He blushed, and looked up to the sky as another shooting star skated across the sky. He silently wished upon it, and smiled at Aelita. Aelita, being a wilder, made no wish on the falling star, but instead prayed to the Creator that they meant what she thought. She bit her lip and looked at Jeremie from the corner of her eye, even though he no longer watched her. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and she wove her fingers into his.

It felt right.


	11. Summer 11

Chapter 11: Kadic

1st of Ferventis

Seven teens walked the last of the long road to the city of Kadic. The outside edges of the group were defined by Yumi on one end and Ulrich on the other, each being careful to maintain as much distance as they could. In the cold space between them walked Odd and beside him, but slightly behind everyone, was the Fair princess, her wary gaze split between the road ahead and the pink haired elf that that was practically walking on air beside Jeremie. The Wise Man himself walked in sync with Aelita but his gait seemed much heavier and the whole group walked in an almost suffocating silence that seemed to have been building ever since leaving Heartwood.

Preoccupied by their own troubles they failed to notice the approach of a deformed man who at one point might have been an elf until he was too close for comfort. His arms and face were swollen with the flesh turned inside-out, his teeth stuck out in all directions, and his red eyes were surrounded in black scribbles, which reminded the Heroes of the Beyond. "This, Aelita, is what a possessed magician looks like," Laura said flatly, pointing to the monster before them.

Aelita glared at her. "I know what a possessed magician looks like." She growled.

The possessed magician summoned a red light from its clawed fingers, and he slammed the light into the ground. It moved towards the group, cracking the earth and knocking the humans off their feet. William grabbed his sword and used it to lever himself up quickly while Aelita summoned and threw icicles at the monster from the ground. The possessed magician blocked the projectiles with his swollen arm and while it was distracted William took the opportunity to slice off the monster's arm. It stumbled backwards, now bleeding profusely. The blood mage summoned his arm, and sewed it back together like a ripped rag doll. "Oh, that's an image I didn't need," William cringed.

The humans took the opportunity to pull themselves to their feet while William stood by, seemingly paralyzed by the disgusting display. Having finished with his arm before the shell shocked teens were ready to fight, the possessed magician opened up his wrist and honed in on the blood. He was immediately cloaked in a fiery aura and he sliced at the air, leaving behind a trail of blood frozen in midair. He raised his arms, and all of the Heroes were lifted up off their feet, squirming in pain as their blood boiled inside of them.

They were trapped and the pain was turning into full blown agony as their skin showed the first signs of really being burned. Jeremy groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he desperately reached for Aelita and Laura in a vain attempt to use his telepathy to ease their suffering. What they felt, when added to his own suffering, was too much for him and he screamed, severing the short but cooling brush with their minds. Aelita jerked her head towards the sound, losing the water based spell she was working on. Laura too was distracted and lost the magic she was building for an attack. She glared at Aelita, not believing that this was how and where she'd die.

They fell to the ground, landing heavily and panting but relieved to have been released from the blood magic. The fiery aura surrounding the monster vanished and he looked to his fingers in confusion then lower, to where a rapier had pierced his chest. He stumbled forward as the rapier was withdrawn, and the blade appeared again to decapitate the possessed magician. The beheaded corpse fell and began to twist back to its original form, revealing a man in heavy steel plate standing behind him. Over the plate was a thick black cloth embroidered with a white owl holding a spear. The man removed his helm, revealing not a wizened old man but a teenage boy with pleasant features, brown hair and blue eyes. "I'm glad I arrived in time," he said, walking towards the still shocked group. "We've been chasing him for months, and it seems he finally allowed his pet inside, if you understand what I mean. The magistrates will be pleased to learn that—Jeremie?"

Jeremie sighed as he pulled himself from the ground. "Hello, Patrick. It seems that the magistrates have finally accepted you. Congratulations," He said monotonously.

"Manners, Jeremie. Introduce us to your friend," Odd said, motioning to the teenage magistrate Jeremie had referred to as Patrick.

"Oh, fine." Jeremy huffed, "everyone, this is my cousin, Patrick Belpois. Patrick, these are my friends, Odd, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, William and Laura." He stated while gesturing to each one in turn.

Patrick smiled. "Pleased to meet you!" He turned his attention back to Jeremie. "What are you doing here? Is Uncle Michael with you?"

"Capital Lyoko was attacked. Most of the citizens fled to Carthage. I hope that my dad was with them, but I'm not sure. I couldn't find him." Jeremie explained.

"Gods, I didn't know! I'm so sorry," The magistrate apologized.

Ulrich adjusted his arm in the sling. "No one knows. That's why we're on the road—to inform villages and cities to prepare for attacks."

Patrick looked to the Mercenary. "I see. Well, you'll probably need to stay in Kadic for a few days to resupply and spread the word. The mayor will want to see you, too, but getting an audience may take a while." He looked at the group. "Who are we fighting?"

Laura wore a somber expression. "The drow,"

He was confused. "I thought the dark elves were dormant."

"Well, they're back, and worse still, Xana Kenval is leading them." William added.

"Xana Kenval is the most famous blood magician of all time. I thought she was dead." Patrick shook his head. "No, I knew she was dead. She was defeated a century ago!"

Ulrich shrugged. "We don't much understand it either, but we've seen her."

The magistrate seemed unnerved, and responded urgently "We should prepare the magistrates. If Xana comes here, we must be ready for her." He motioned for the Heroes to follow him. "So, if I may ask, why are you delivering this message, and not the King's couriers?"

"My father was adamant that Capital Lyoko was safe. He didn't have time to send couriers." Laura explained. "I divined that we were the Heroes of the Warrior's prophecy, and we're working together to stop Xana."

"Then you are… Forgive me, Your Highness. I didn't recognize you." Patrick apologized.

She sighed. "How could you have? We've never met."

Yumi spoke up. "Sir Patrick, I would like to ask you about your work with the magistrates. More bluntly, what you do. I hear about your order all of the time, but I've never met a magistrate."

"We're non-magicians that hunt those that prey on mortals. You know—blood magicians, the possessed, werewolves, vampires and so on. The occasional dragon." Patrick explained.

Aelita crossed her arms. "They target elves because of our different beliefs on spirits. I have seen many elves accused of blood magic who were not even magicians, and the magistrates didn't hesitate to take them away."

Patrick wasn't offended and didn't back down from her accusing stare. "Many magistrates harbor prejudices and assumptions. In Kadic, the Knight Templar orders us to investigate before we attempt an arrest." He explained. "Every city that is large enough to have a magistrate outpost operates under a different Knight Templar. They can sometimes be corrupt," he finished with a shake of his head.

Laura eyed the Outcast. "What's wrong, knife ear? Do you have something to hide?"

Aelita glared at the Fair. "Forgive me if I am uneasy around the hands of my oppression."

Patrick looked at Jeremie. "They really don't get along, do they?"

"Don't get me started," Jeremie replied as they walked up to the house belonging to his aunt and uncle.

Going inside, Jeremie introduced his new friends to his aunt and Uncle much more cordially than he had to Patrick. Next, he explained the attack on capitol Lyoko as well as their journey to Kadic and its purpose. Having heard all they've been through, Jeremie's aunt and uncle agreed to put up the Heroes, although Aelita refused to stay inside the city limits. After trying to secure an answer from her, she said simply she preferred being in the wilderness to the stone walls of the city. It seemed plausible—when Aelita walked in the city, she constantly walked into things, and people. Laura was constantly teasing her about it, though it reminded Jeremie of the first time he saw her.

With the group having secured lodging and Aelita headed out of the city, Laura quickly found the city's archives and began studying tomes recorded in 1:10 Origin, when the people who would later settle Lyoko invaded Elvhenan. The invasion lasted for three years before the elves were enslaved, and she was trying to learn about the magics the elves had used.

Specifically, she was looking for anything that could be used to expose Aelita, but there was nothing. The ancients were more interested in subjugating the elves than recording their magic and history. She slammed the book closed and searched for a journal of a soldier, finding the diary of a medic. The medic spoke of the demons that the elves summoned, and the wandering thoughts that weighed whether or not it was worth it to take over a land filled with hostile savages and cliffs.

William, who was trying his best to help the princess, brought her a stack of books that were filled with ancient maps. The map showed Arlathan, as well as the place that would later become Capital Lyoko. There were also accounts of the Surface Wars of Aelita Fen'harel, who was said to use grey magic to turn her enemies against each other in combat. But nothing that was recorded could incriminate the Outcast. Frustrated, Laura slammed the books closed and stormed out.

Jeremie, Ulrich and Odd joined Patrick as he scribbled on parchment, writing out a full report on the death of the possessed magician. Patrick looked up briefly at his cousin and asked, "So what's going on between you and Aelita, Jeremie?"

"What makes you think that anything is going on?" Jeremie asked, crossing his arms.

Patrick laughed loudly, nearly spilling ink onto his parchment. "Oh, please. You were watching her all the way into the city." He pointed out.

Ulrich and Odd laughed, and Jeremie's cheeks turned bright red. "I wasn't watching her. I mean, I was. But, you saw how she is when she goes into a city. She trips over her own two feet." He lied. Sitting up straighter, he added, "I was just trying to make sure she didn't hurt herself."

"Certainly.", Odd replied sarcastically, "And tell me, Belpois; did her hips make it to Kadic safely?" Odd continued haughtily.

Jeremie tried to bury his head and the boys laughed. "I hate you. You're mean people." Jeremie announced.

"Oh, don't be so cranky, Jeremie. We're only teasing you." Ulrich said. He turned to Odd, "help me with this, would you," and asked while fiddling with the sling for the umpteenth time. He knew that he had to wear it, but did it have to be so uncomfortable? He wondered as Odd tried to help him put the cursed thing back on in a less annoying manor.

The Wise Man turned away from the duo and after a few moments became lost in his own thoughts. He went back to that night in heartwood and stared at his empty hand, remembering how her hand had felt in his. He was forced back to reality by Odd, who snapped his fingers in his face. "Medieuropa to Jeremie! Are you listening to me?" The Scout demanded. Jeremie admitted that he hadn't, and Odd repeated, "How are you going to show her that you care for her?"

He sat still for a moment. "I don't know what you mean." He said quietly. "I'm sure that she'll just know."

"No! No! Girls are creatures that seek confirmation! You have to show her!" Odd just about shouted. Jeremie opened his mouth to protest, but he held up a finger to silence him. "Don't argue. I have a lot of experience in the labyrinth of the heart. Have you considered getting her a gift?"

Patrick shooed Odd away from the table, as he'd begun to lean on it. "Be careful. You'll put your hand in ink if you aren't careful."

"I'm not sure what she'd like," Jeremie admitted.

"You'll think of something." Patrick said cheerfully, his optimism in stark contrast to Jeremie's realism. "You always do." Jeremie rolled his eyes at his cousin. "Now out with all of you," Patrick continued, "as amusing as this is I really need to finish this report."

* * *

Laura returned to the apartment and found Patrick still filling out paperwork. He peered up at her, and he explained, "Bureaucratic red tape at its finest," She watched him as he scribbled words on the parchment, and she paced back and forth. "Is something on your mind, Your Highness?"

"Have you heard about female elven magicians running from the magistrates?" Laura asked bluntly.

Patrick stopped writing. "Sure, lots of female elven magicians run from the magistrates. They don't want to be arrested." He said sassily. "I'll need you to be more specific."

"Okay… female elven magician, pink hair, green eyes, often accompanied by wilders?" Laura specified.

Patrick glared at her. "You want to know if Aelita is wanted by the magistrates." He said flatly. When she nodded, he asked, "If she was, why wouldn't I have arrested her on sight? Better yet, why didn't she attack me on sight?" Patrick shook his head. "You're paranoid. Not every elven magician practices blood magic."

Laura walked swiftly over to him and sat down. "But she can sense demons! She carries a staff with a skull on it!" She cried out.

"Lots of magicians carry staffs with skulls on them. They're typically old, powerful staffs, handed down through the generations." Patrick said. "And the elves have had magic longer than humans have. Humans only started using magic about three ages ago, and elves have been using magic since before recorded time. It makes sense that they have advanced magic, even after centuries of slavery."

"No! You don't believe me either!" Laura shouted. "Gods! She's going to stab us in the back and I'm the only one who will be prepared for it!"

Patrick sighed. "If you want, I'll observe her. But I'll observe you too. It isn't uncommon for magicians to frame others to hide their own crimes." He compromised.

"I assure you, I am not a blood magician." Laura said firmly.

"That's what they all say."

* * *

2nd of Ferventis

It had taken some effort, but the group had managed to convince Aelita to go into town. She was nervous for a while, but when Jeremie stood near her she grew less nervous and more distracted. She ran into two signposts and a man with a dog before they even reached the marketplace. For the remainder of the stroll she walked behind the rest of the group, trying to bury her shame.

Patrick, at the behest of Laura, walked behind Aelita, trying to decipher from her walk and her conversation if she was corrupted. He saw no signs of it—she did not glow, her arms and hands were scar-free, and certainly she did not speak in a double voice. Her body was not deformed, nor did she levitate or threaten innocents. He could see no outward signs of corruption. This, of course, did not mean the corruption was not there, but if it was, she hid it well. Many blood magicians went crazy, as demons of all variety tried to possess them, though Aelita simply could've been very lucky.

Laura knew that Patrick was investigating, so an accurate conclusion was difficult to draw. She, too, showed no signs of corruption, but was that because she was not corrupted, or because she knew he was watching?

He listened carefully to Aelita's conversations with the others. "This city is so big and confusing!" She exclaimed to Ulrich as she watched the Kadic skyline. "How does anyone keep it all straight?" She asked.

"You get used to it," He shrugged, though he clearly regretted the decision. He grabbed his shoulder and cursed it.

She chuckled. "If not, I guess you end up like me; walking into signposts, utterly distracted." She said cheerily. No spiteful, vindictive behavior was evident in her voice, though she was cunning by her very nature. This could be a façade. Elves were difficult to accurately pinpoint, even though they were far more likely to turn. If he made an arrest, it would be without just cause, and even though she'd most likely go free, Jeremie would likely never forgive him. Their relationship was strange and strained as it was.

Patrick jumped as Odd slapped his back, and he nearly dropped his charcoal. "Gods, is every member of the Belpois family jumpy?" He laughed, and Patrick rolled his eyes. Odd playfully tried to grab Patrick's parchment, and the magistrate panicked, trying to keep it away from the Scout. After a moment's effort Odd grabbed the parchment anyway, and he studied the chicken scratches scribbled on it while the group moved off unaware that two members had stopped following. "Are… you studying Aelita?" He asked. "Jeremie won't like that you're studying his girlfriend. And wouldn't you rather study someone willing—like me, for instance?"

Patrick smirked briefly, but he snatched the parchment away. "It is my duty to do so." He said off-handedly.

Odd shook his head. "I thought you needed probable cause in this district." He said.

"Well… yes." Patrick admitted. Odd smirked at him, and the magistrate sighed, "If I tell you, will you let me go on about my job in peace?" The Scout nodded. "Laura… doesn't trust Aelita."

Odd laughed. "That isn't new. Everybody and their greasy haired grandma knows that Her Royal Bitchiness hates Aelita. What does that have to do with you?"

"I was enlisted to investigate her. I'm investigating Laura too, you know—I can't believe that she isn't hiding something." Patrick explained. "Now, please? I'm trying to clear her name."

Odd smiled and waved as he walked away. He watched Aelita as she studied the clouds, and he glanced at Laura, who seemed to be more uptight than usual—if that, he laughed to himself, was even possible. Ulrich sat down next to him. "As much as I enjoy spending time with Kitten, there are only so many cloud bunnies one man can take." He said in a tired voice.

"Of course," Odd agreed. The boys spoke for a while, and Odd whispered, "I heard from Patrick that Laura went to the magistrates to investigate Aelita." He said. Ulrich's eyes widened, and Odd explained that Laura had felt mistrust towards Aelita for a while, and she'd told both William and himself to be wary.

Ulrich turned his attention to Laura, who saw his stare and waved. He shook his head, now distrustful of the Fair.

* * *

The sun was sinking towards the horizon as Jeremie and Ulrich walked with plates of food for Aelita and Yumi, who'd agreed to stay with Aelita in the woods after Jeremie had asked and then practically begged her to do. As they walked Jeremie Odd's words weighed on his mind and he tried to think of a gift for the Outcast. "Do you think she'd like a book on elven history?"

"Good luck finding one." Ulrich replied as the duo paused near a small pond. "Even the wilders have only reclaimed a little of their history, and most humans don't care." The Mercenary continued, reminding himself not to move his arm. He used his free arm to skip a stone across the surface of the pond.

"I suppose you're right." Jeremie admitted. "Maybe… she'd like jewelry then?" He for a second to paused to think, "but I haven't seen her wear jewelry." He groaned. "Why are women so difficult to shop for?"

Ulrich laughed as they started walking again. "Odd says that they aren't, if you know them well enough, but I'm with you."

Jeremie laughed too, and he continued thinking. "I suppose… flowers? No, I don't think she'd thank me for buying dead nature."

Ulrich considered for a moment, and he reluctantly said, "When we were in Narza, I saw her eyeing rag dolls of elven make. I don't know why she would want one—maybe she was forced to grow up quickly and never had the chance to own one, I'm not sure—but it was obvious that she wanted one." He suggested. "Just on the other side of town, I saw an elven merchant. I doubt that he's from Arlathan, but he sold dolls like the ones in Narza. Just… if she asks who told you, you didn't hear it from me."

The Wise Man laughed, and they kept walking. "I wonder why she acts the way she does. She doesn't speak about her past. All we know about her is that she spent time in Arak-Muna. I don't feel like I can ask her about her past without offending her, or without bringing up that traumatic experience." He mused.

"I heard something from Odd today, about Aelita… I heard that the magistrates told Patrick to investigate Aelita."

"What? Why would they do that? We've been here less than twenty-four hours."

"I'm just telling you what I heard." Ulrich said calmly. "I don't know. I think Laura told them to study her."

Jeremie shook his head in annoyance. "Ugh, is she still on this? I thought she'd moved past it after Dhaune…" There was an unfamiliar flash in Ulrich's eye, and Jeremie stopped his sentence. "I don't know. We can't let Aelita know—gods only know how she'll react. I'll talk to Patrick." His tone dripped with venom.

They approached the aravel, set up about a mile outside of the city. Yumi sat with most of her hair pulled away from her face in a ponytail, and she twisted Aelita's hair into multiple, tiny braids. "Yumi, do you know anything about dragons?" The Outcast asked.

"Why would I?" The Colonist asked.

Aelita sighed. "It's just been bothering me… how do you suppose they scratch themselves if they get an itch on their head? Do you suppose they scratch their heads on a tree, like deer do?"

Yumi laughed. "I'd pay to see that!"

"It makes sense, though, especially if they're shedding!" Aelita pointed out.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremie asked.

"Dragons. It was just a thought." The Outcast shrugged.

Ulrich laughed as he handed the elf her dinner. "Let's hope we never have to find out." He said, and though Yumi grinned, the aura was strange. All of them seemed to feel it and Jeremie, growing uncomfortable in the weird silence, handed Yumi her plate of food, thanked her quietly and walked with Ulrich back into the city in silence.


	12. Summer 12

_Episode 12: Strings and Threads_

2nd of Ferventis

Jeremie walked back into the city with Ulrich in silence, his expression darkening with each step he took towards his temporary home and Patrick. He could see the many dark paths Patrick's magistrates would have for Aelita as a result of even the mere accusation of blood magic and to have an innocent girl subjected to that… No! He was definitely not going to let this happen. Angrily pushing the door of his Uncle's house open and leaving Ulrich behind in the foyer he charged towards the study and stormed into Patrick's office, not bothering to knock on the door. His cousin jumped and looked up from the book he was reading. Jeremie pulled him out of his chair, and Patrick pushed him away. "What do you think you're doing?" Patrick asked, surprised and confused.

"I could ask you the same. What do you think you're doing, spying on Aelita!?" The Wise Man demanded, crossing his arms.

Patrick sighed. "This is the last time I trust Odd to keep a secret," he muttered. Looking his cousin in the eyes he continued with forced calm. "Jeremie, I'm doing my duty. You know that I've been training my whole life to be a magistrate. They've finally given me a chance and I don't intend to be dishonorably discharged."

"And so to impress the Knight Templar, you decide to frame an innocent girl of blood magic?" Jeremie asked rhetorically. "You know what they'll do to her if they believe her to be a witch!"

His words were haunting. Most executions that were decreed by the Knight Templar were private affairs, to spare whatever dignity the condemned had left. But in the rare case a blood magician was branded a witch, they were executed publicly. In smaller villages where the Veil was rumored to be thin, like Falcon's Bridge in the far west, their bodies were hung from trees on the road nearing the village. In those villages it was not uncommon for there to be pyres. "That isn't going to happen, Jeremie. I haven't found any evidence to convict her, or even bring her in."

Jeremie's face turned red. "And? What does that matter?" He continued, his voice growing louder and more desperate, "if you make the accusation, the eyes of the public will view her as guilty! You'd need Jupiter himself to clear her name!"

Patrick reached towards his cousin to try and calm him. "Jeremie, calm down! Do you want the whole neighborhood to hear you? It isn't like I've targeted Aelita alone. I'm investigating Laura, too."

"Oh, I know about Laura's involvement. She's been suspicious about Aelita ever since the day they met. I know that she went to the magistrates, and I know that she wants you to get dirt on Aelita."

"Then why are you yelling at me? Shouldn't you be yelling at Laura?"

"Believe me, I intend to." Jeremie hissed as he looked over his shoulder, like he expected to find her there, even though they both knew the Fair was in bed. "Listen, Patrick. I'm not going to ask you again. Leave. Aelita. Alone."

Patrick sighed as his cousin spun and left the office. He was beginning to wonder if they could get any more distant. Did he even remember why they were feuding?

* * *

3rd of Ferventis

The market square was as busy as ever with a bustling crowd lining stalls filled with everything imaginable. The air was with thick with scents from the various foods and ingredients on offer while a loud roar made up of vendor's shouts for attention and haggling customers constantly assaulted one's ears. It was through this chaos that the Wise man navigated as he attempted to follow Ulrich's directions. The market stall Jeremie was looking for was smaller than most of the other stalls and located in an out of the way corner. It took many minutes and a fair amount of effort to wade through the crowds, but Jeremie finally managed to find the correct stall.

On the counter were amulets made of hardwood in different shades of brown ranging from almost ebony to rich birch. They were carved with elvish runes, with white and red beads decorating the string. He wished he could read them, but if Ulrich was right and this merchant was city-born, the elf who carved it had probably written nonsensical words and told customers that they meant something different.

The merchant's daughter, a girl of no more than fourteen with curly blue hair, looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back politely. "Papa, we have a customer!" The girl called, and the merchant stumbled around the stall.

"Welcome, friend, welcome! Please, feel free to look around!" He said cheerfully, but his expression changed when he saw Jeremie was human. "Is… there something you need?" He asked sharply.

Jeremie tried not to take it personally. "I'm looking for a gift for my friend. She's a wilder—one of the wandering folk, I guess—and I want it to be special." When the merchant showed no change in expression, he added, "Another friend of mine said that he saw her admiring dolls of elven make. Do you sell dolls here?"

The merchant crossed his arms. "And who is this girl to you, shem?"

"Papa! You're being rude!" His daughter exclaimed.

Jeremie sighed. "A friend. More than a friend, I hope. That's why I want the doll—I want to surprise her, to show her…" He shook his head. "Listen, I would really rather just buy the doll, instead of giving you my whole life's story. Could we please just move this along?"

The merchant opened his mouth, but his daughter stopped him. "Papa, why don't you go fetch some food from the market? You could use some air." She suggested, and her father stormed off. She pulled a box from under the counter and began sifting through it. "I was born in the city, but Mamae was born in Arlathan. She told me all about our culture there and the symbolism behind most of these dolls. I think we have one in here that means protection—maybe if you gave it to her, she'd understand that you will always be by her side?" The merchant's daughter revealed a goblin doll. It had green skin and pointed ears with a long tail. Both his head and the tip and underside of the tail were draped in scruffy dark brown fur. He wore a magenta shirt with a white shirt under it, white bloomer-like pants, and teal green boots and hat.

Jeremie looked up. "A goblin? Aren't goblins known for causing trouble? Why would these mean protection?"

"I don't know!" The girl laughed with confusion obvious in her voice. "Here, let me help you." She found a box and placed the doll inside, and she wrapped it in a ribbon embroidered with purple roses. "Here, take this to the wilder girl."

Smiling broadly, Jeremy paid the girl, adding a little extra for her trouble in wrapping it, and turned away.

"May the Creation Father watch over you," The girl called as he left the stall.

* * *

"If you want to go back to Kadic, I don't mind, Yumi." Aelita said suddenly, causing the Colonist to look back from her solitary combat practice. "I mean, I'm used to being alone, and I'm not in any real danger here."

Yumi closed her fans with a flick of her wrists and sat down across from the Outcast. "What if Xana sends her constructs after you? What will you do then?"

"It isn't like I'm defenseless. Besides, I know where you are if they do attack me." Aelita smiled. "And I'm used to being alone."

"Jeremie asked me to protect you, Aelita. I intend to do just that," Yumi replied firmly.

"Jeremie worries too much, lethallan. He means well, I know, but I think he forgets that I'm used to being alone in the wilderness."

Yumi looked down the road when she saw a figure approaching from the corner of her eye. 'Well, speak of Pluto," She said, and she smiled when she noticed his strange gait. "Maybe I'll take a walk. I think the two of you should talk alone. I'll be back soon." She stood, and headed towards town. As she walked past Jeremie, she gave him two thumbs up.

Aelita smiled at the Wise Man as he sat beside of her. "Aneth ara, lethallin," She greeted.

Jeremie smiled back. "I brought you something." He said, presenting her the box.

She took it, and she tilted her head. An idea popped into her head. "Elgar'nan! Did I miss some important occasion? Ir abelas, I promise I'll make it up to you!" She apologized.

He laughed. "There's no occasion, Aelita. I just thought you'd like it."

She was dumbfounded for a moment. "You're giving me a present?" She wondered out loud. "It isn't even my name day." She muttered. Then she spoke louder. "Nobody's ever given me a present before. Useful things, tools or clothes. Because I needed them. Not… just because."

"Well, I'm honored to be the first. Go on, open it."

Aelita carefully undid the ribbon and opened the box. Her eyes lit up when she saw the doll inside, and she held it like a fragile flower in her hands. A soft giggle escaped her lips, and with her green eyes shining like stars, she asked, "Do you know why the People give these dolls to their children?" She asked.

Jeremie suddenly questioned his gift. "The… The girl at the market stall said they meant protection," he stammered.

"She's right, in a sense. Our stories tell us that our ancestors, back when we were still immortal and long before the humans invaded, struck a deal with the Goblin King. There could only be one goblin for every elf. This means that humans and orcs could be plagued by a hundred goblins each, but an elf has only one personal troublemaker." She looked back to the doll. "The People give goblin dolls to their children to trick the goblins into thinking that the elf has already been claimed."

The Wise Man smiled weakly. "So, not really a romantic gift then? Next time I'll buy an amulet."

Aelita laughed. "Oh, ma vhenan, you really are crazy, aren't you?" Her cheeks turned red at her comment, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Had she really just said that?

He simply laughed, not knowing what the endearment meant. They sat in silence for a while after Aelita dubbed her new doll Mr. Pück. "Aelita, why won't you go inside of the city?" He finally asked.

"Because I am uncomfortable there," She said simply.

"As you've said, but it is safer there. There's no reason to be uncomfortable."

"Because thousands of heavy stones always make me feel safe," She muttered a bit harsher than she had originally intended. Seeing the hurt reaction on Jeremie's face, she quickly elaborated. "What I mean to say is, while humans feel safer surrounded by tall buildings and large groups of people, the elvhen tend to be more comfortable in nature, surrounded by the garden of the Creation Father."

"Okay, but is there a reason for it?"

She sighed. "It's hard to explain, but it involves your use of paved roads." She thought for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. "You know how humans have five basic senses, right? Elves sort of have another, which we refer to as 'the Creator's Sight.' Basically, we can sense where we are with our feet, and that same interaction with the earth influences the world around us. Because of the Creator's sight I could run straight through a forest, never change my path and never strike a tree."

"So, what, do they just get out of your way?"

"In a sense, yes." Aelita sighed as she continued. "When we're inside of a city or if our connection to the earth is lost, be it by shoes or on a paved road or if, Creator forbid, we lose our feet, we can't tell where we are. That's why I run into things whenever I go into a city. It's dreadful. Have I lost you?"

Jeremie rubbed his eyes, pushing his spectacles from his nose in the process. "I don't really understand." He admitted. "I can see that coming in handy at night but during the day you can simply see where you are in relation to where the things you want to avoid are," he continued gently. He pushed his glasses back into place and then looked at Aelita to gauge her reaction to his words.

When he looked back at her, she suddenly had an idea. She reached and grabbed his spectacles.

"Hey, give those back! I can't see without them." He pleaded.

Aelita placed them on her own face as she continued. "Think of your glasses as the Creator's Sight. If you entered a city without these things, what would happen?"

"They're called spectacles." Jeremie said, awkwardly taking them off of Aelita's nose. "And everything becomes blurry, so much so that I wouldn't be able to read signs or a map. I wouldn't be able to tell where I was going. I'd run into things and… okay, now I understand."

The Outcast smiled. "It isn't a perfect analogy, since I can still technically see. Just… it would be like you losing your spectacles." Her eyes turned to the sky while Jeremie's remained on her face for a while longer.

* * *

Laura collapsed into the first chair she found in the living room, depressed after having been chewed out by Jeremie. 'Why was it that he couldn't see what she saw?' She wondered to herself. His love had blinded him. She answered her own question silently as Patrick entered the room. She frowned and spoke bitterly, "I was under the impression that your investigation was to be kept a secret."

Patrick shook his head. "Jeremie scolded you, then?" He asked rhetorically. "Odd found the notes I had been writing," he answered. "And by the way, there is no evidence to support your theory that Aelita is a blood magician."

Laura groaned. "Maybe she's really good at hiding it. Maybe she found out that you're watching her!"

Patrick slammed his fist against the wall. "Laura, don't you get it? She isn't a blood magician! I know that must be hard to accept, but Aelita is innocent!" He shouted. He tore at his hair. "I don't know what she did to you that made you hate her, but she isn't this evil, conniving witch!"

The magistrate stormed out of the room, and Laura raised her shoulders and crossed her arms. She exhaled through her nose, and she wondered why no one believed her.


	13. Summer 13

_Episode 13: the More Things Change…_

7th of Ferventis

It had been seven days, and the Heroes had still not received word from the mayor. Worse still, Aelita said that there were constructs scouting the plains. "Just roaches, so far. I took care of them, but I don't think Xana will wait for very long before she sends crabs and hornets." She reported as she sat in the apartment, with the others, obviously nervous to be in the magistrate's home. She sipped on the tea Jeremie's aunt had made for her. "We have to talk to the mayor, or we'll see a second Capital Lyoko."

Patrick looked to Jeremie. "Perhaps you should speak with the Knight Templar first. He may be able to speed the process."

"I think that may be a good idea, though I was hoping that we could avoid meeting him." Jeremie answered while sending a warning glare at Laura. He would simply leave out Aelita when they spoke, so the Knight Templar wouldn't order an official investigation.

Yumi glanced between the Wise and Fair then stood. "Well, Aelita, you and I should go back to the aravel. Poor Rorkal must be lonely, and we'll want to be there if any more of Xana's monsters get too close to the city."

As the Colonist and the Outcast stood to leave, William caught Yumi's arm. "Yumi! I was wondering… maybe we could hang out this evening? Just you and me?" He suggested.

Yumi looked from William's red eyes to Ulrich's brown ones. "That's really sweet of you, William, but it isn't really a safe time for me to be dating anyone right now." She replied, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"It doesn't have to be a date. I just thought that we could hang out," William said, a weak smile on his face.

Yumi hesitated, but she smiled back. "I guess it wouldn't kill me," She shrugged, and she looked back to Aelita. "Are you going to be alright getting back to the aravel?"

"I'm sure I can." She smiled, though Jeremie seemed concerned. "Dareth shiral, lethallinen," She waved as she left. Yumi smiled at the others as she left, though she turned around and frowned when she saw the jealous look on Ulrich's face. William turned and smiled at the Mercenary.

Patrick shook his head. "I don't know if I trust that guy."

Laura glared at Patrick. "William is one of the most trustworthy elves I've ever met."

Ulrich pulled at his hair. "Ugh! How did Yumi fall for that? He's obviously using her!" He growled. He remembered both the heartbreak he suffered after Heartwood and the jealousy he'd hidden away so he could be happy for Kitten when he heard of the success of her and Jeremie's date. The pain gnawed at his heart.

Jeremie sat and began to flip through the pages of the book he'd left on the table. It was Patrick's manual on the magistrates, and he was studying the techniques in the book. "Yumi is a big girl, and I'm sure her paranoia about Dhaune will make her cautious." He noticed Laura summoning a small fire to warm her tea, and he used a Silencing technique on her, causing the flame to flicker out suddenly.

Laura glared up at him. "What was that for?" She demanded as she tried to summon the flame again. Silencing a magician was temporary, of course, but it took hours for the effects to wear off and for some magicians it was painful. Luckily, Laura didn't feel any pain.

Jeremie smiled and shrugged. "I was just seeing if I could do it." He looked at Patrick. "And without training! Pretty impressive, no?"

Patrick shook his head again and took the book away from his cousin. "Don't do that, Jeremie. Our abilities are supposed to be trade secrets."

"Obviously not," The Wise Man teased.

Ulrich waved his arms. "Hello? We're supposed to be worrying about Yumi here!"

Odd laughed. "No, you're supposed to be worrying about Yumi. The rest of us know she can handle herself."

Ulrich blew a brown hair from his face. "I know she can handle herself. It's just…" He remembered always fighting with William for Yumi's attention ever since they had reached their teenage years. Now, it felt like she had abandoned him. "What has he got that I don't have?" Ulrich demanded.

Odd offered his two coins worth. "Well, he's not a virgin, for one." He bit into the bread he held in his hand, and he laughed. "And let's face it Ulrich, you are."

The Mercenary glared at the Scout, who grinned. "How do you know that I'm a virgin, Odd? We've never spoken about it!" He growled.

Odd rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Ulrich. I can smell a virgin a mile away."

Patrick laughed and smirked at Odd. "That sounds like a useful power to have!"

Odd laughed and smiled back. "Says you! I'd much rather be able to smell cheese!"

Jeremie looked back at Odd. "I… don't think that's the reason, Odd." He looked at Ulrich. "They're just going to hang out. Don't be paranoid."

Ulrich shook his head, and he looked at his feet. "I may be paranoid, you're right," He said before he looked up at Jeremie. "But a healthy dose of paranoia has saved my life before."

* * *

Xana knocked on the door to Dhaune's bedchamber. When there was no answer, the Matron rolled her eyes and forced the door open. "Dhaune? You weren't at the war meeting. Are you alright?" She sighed when she found Dhaune on her bed, a wet rag over her face. Hiroki walked in with a platter of tea and water.

"I'm fine, Matron Mother. I'm just hung over." She sat up, and she held her throbbing head in her hand as she tried to stand. "I spent way too much coin on dwarven ale at the tavern. That is strong stuff that they make. I don't know what they put in it but I don't think wheat is one of the ingredients."

"Dhaune, you know that I can't stand to be around drunk people." Xana said firmly.

Dhaune nodded. "Oh, I know! That's why I didn't tell you I was going drinking—so you wouldn't have to be around me." She rubbed her forehead and sat down on the bed. "Forgive me, Matron Mother. I… just have a lot on my mind, and I thought that I could drown those thoughts in drunken stupor. I was wrong. Like always."

Xana sighed, and she looked away. "Oh, sober up, Dhaune. We take over Heartwood tonight."

* * *

William and Yumi sat in a tavern, waiting for the food they'd ordered to arrive. Glancing around the room, she noticed it was filled with refugees from towns they'd warned over the past few months. Yumi sighed. "If this many people have come to Kadic seeking protection, then many of the towns and villages we warned have fallen."

"There wasn't any more that we could've done. We'd have ended up with our heads on pikes, if we were lucky." William said, leaning back in his chair. There was a long pause. Yumi looked to her toes, and William turned his attention to the rafters. He suddenly asked, "How are you holding up, Yumi?"

She looked up at him. "What? Oh, I'm fine. Just… fine." She sighed, and she swished her ale around in the tankard. "Why do you ask?"

"It seems to me that you got the worst of this situation. Dhaune turned on you, and then put Ulrich in danger. It must be very difficult." The Vanguard explained. He looked to her with those red eyes that had unnerved her when they had first met. "So, I ask again—how are you holding up?"

"Well…" Yumi took a breath. "Mybrotherwastakenbythedrowmyfirstloverturnsouttob eapawnofXana'snottomentionthatweallliveinconstantf earthatonedaytheMatronMotherwillfindusandmurderusa llinoursleepthenDhaunesendsconstructsafterUlrichin themiddleofourdateandgodsknowthatIdon'tneedthatonm yshouldersplusJeremiesaysthatLaurahasbeentryingtog etAelitabrandedabloodmagicianandquitefranklyyouhav en'tbeenanyhelpatallinthatfield!" She gasped for breath, and William leaned over and put a finger on her lips.

"Don't…" He started. "Don't add to that. You'll just hurt yourself."

Yumi laughed weakly between gasps. "I guess you're right." She admitted. "Although, it feels good to finally have my frustrations off my chest. I mean, everyone knew that I had them, but I haven't really spoken to them with anybody but Aelita, and she… doesn't understand." Yumi looked to the floor again, and then smiled at William. "I'm glad we're friends, William."

"I'm glad we're friends, too." He said with a hint of longing in his voice.

* * *

Ulrich approached Aelita, who had found several new friends—a bluebird, a ground robin, and a squirrel. The squirrel and the birds fled when they heard the Mercenary, and Aelita pouted with a sigh. Nevertheless, she smiled at her friend. "Aneth ara, Ulrich."

"Aneth ara, Kitten," He greeted, and she smiled wider. "Did you run into any signposts on your way back?" He asked with brotherly affection.

She laughed. "A few. But I think I'm getting better at finding out where they are!" She turned her head skyward and watched the clouds.

He turned to look up as well, hoping to enjoy the peace of being around Aelita and the quiet of the forest. Instead his mind went back to that disaster of a date and the ease with which Yumi had accepted William's proposal. He clenched his fists as Aelita continued gazing skyward seemingly oblivious to his plight. The silence was driving him crazy and when he could take no more he finally stood. "Fine, go ahead and say it! I lost my chance with Yumi! I never should have let her walk away from me that night! I should have stopped her; I should've been prepared for anything that night! But I wasn't and now she's gone for good!" He shouted, pacing around the smoking fire pit. Aelita said nothing, and simply stared at the sky.

Ulrich sighed, shook his head and sat down again, finally looking up at the clouds. "That one over there looks like a bunny rabbit."

She grinned. "I saw that, too!" After a moment, she looked back at Ulrich. "Maybe you should tell Yumi about your feelings. I'm sure she'll understand, lethallin."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ulrich said.

"Why not? The worst thing she could say is 'no'!"

"A 'no' will feel worse than having a thousand bricks dumped on my head."

"If she doesn't know about your feelings, Ulrich, how can you expect her to respect them?"

Ulrich looked at the Outcast, and she shrugged. "When did you get so wise?" He teased, and she rolled her eyes.

"Call it a woman's intuition," She said.

He stood and stretched then removed the sling and threw it into the fire pit, giving Aelita specific instructions to burn it later. "Well, here goes," Ulrich said, "I'm off to ruin Yumi's date. Wish me luck!"

"May the Creation Father guide you!" Aelita waved, and then she thought about what he had said as he'd left. "Wait, did I really just condone that?"

* * *

Yumi and William walked towards the edge of the city. "Well, it was good to hang out with you and not worry that Dhaune will send constructs after you." Yumi said, "Maybe it helps that this wasn't romantic, but still, I didn't think I'd ever be able to hang out with my friends again."

"Maybe Dhaune has moved on," William suggested.

Oddly enough, she wasn't thrilled with this idea. "Hmm. Maybe she has." She looked down at her toes, and she muttered, "Maybe it is time for me to move on, too," William stopped walking, and Yumi turned to look at him. He'd closed his eyes, and she laughed nervously. "Uh, William? What are you doing?"

"You said you wanted to move on," He whispered as he walked closer to her. He pinned her to the wall, and she pushed herself against it as much as she could. "Doesn't that mean…?"

"No! Gods, no!" Yumi said. "I want to move on, but that doesn't mean that it's safe for anyone to get close to me! We don't know what Dhaune—I mean, what Xana is planning."

William looked her in the eyes. "It isn't about Dhaune or Xana, is it? This is about Ulrich."

Yumi shrugged, a confused expression obvious on her face. "Yes? No? I don't know. Ulrich and I… I'm afraid it may be too late."

"If he truly cared for you, would he have let you leave?" William asked, and he moved his face closer to hers.

"Yumi!" Ulrich's voice called, and the Mercenary rounded the corner. "Yumi, I have to tell you something!" He saw William and Yumi, and he panicked on the inside.

Panicking, Yumi shoved William away creating enough space to duck under the arm that had trapped her. "Yes, Ulrich?" She asked, her voice shaking.

Ulrich stood, paralyzed for a moment. "I… Aelita asked me to ask you when you would get back to the aravel. She said that she wanted to make tea, or something."

Yumi sighed. "I'm leaving now. Thank you, Ulrich." She waved good-bye to William, and bid him an awkward goodnight before turning in the direction of Aelita's camp. She walked slowly under the sun, which was beginning to fade into the night, and for the first time in a long time she felt like the awkward teenager she was supposed to be. She wondered why things couldn't be simple—why she had such a difficult time in relationships when it seemed to come so naturally to everyone else. She reached into her sleeve and held on to the koi stone, and she wanted to cry when she realized that the more things change, the more they stayed the same.

The sun was almost gone by the time she stumbled into the aravel. She must've looked like a mess, because when Aelita saw her, she gasped and ran over to her. "Blood of the Creation Father, Yumi! Are you alright? What happened?" She asked, helping her friend to sit. Yumi burst into tears, and Aelita held her while she cried.


	14. Summer 14

In honor of Leif Erikson's day, it's a triple update week! Hooray! (It has nothing to do with Leif Erikson, actually.)

_Episode 14: Sam I Am_

9th of Ferventis

Odd took a deep breath. Even through the city air, he could smell the changing seasons on the wind, but more importantly, he smelled candy. He wandered through the twisting city streets, taken in by the scent of sweetmeats that seemed to overpower everything else. While he was winding through the alleys, a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Odd Della-Robbia? Tell me that I'm hallucinating." The figure said. Odd stepped closer, and the figure walked closer to him. She was an elf, though she was taller than him, and her skin was dark. She had cropped black hair with two red streaks in the front and wore a short grey dress, the leather corset unlaced near her cleavage. "No, I'm not hallucinating. Driven here by the conflict in the west, huh?" Samantha Knight asked, crossing her arms.

"Sam!" Odd exclaimed, embracing his former lover. "Gods above! What are you doing here? I thought you were headed back to the Uncharted South."

Sam shrugged. "I was drawn in by the intoxicating aroma of stone and shemlen." She joked as she walked back into the shadows to lean on the wall. Odd followed her, and she smiled. "But I asked you first."

"My friends and I, we were chosen to be Heroes. We're on a quest to defeat Xana, the leader of the dark elves—the ones causing this 'conflict,' as you say." Odd crossed his arms. "Why are you just standing here in the dark? Don't you have a job or something?"

Sam laughed humorlessly. "This is my job, Odd. I turn tricks in the dark." She looked down into the darkness and her voice fell just a bit. "I hit a rough patch after I left Capital Lyoko." Looking back up, she smiled at her former lover and continued in a teasing, almost patronizing voice. "But look at you. You're some big-shot hero, eh? That must pay well."

"Less so than you might think," Odd said as he reached for his coin purse. "Here, Sam—let me help you. I have some gold here; I want you to have it."

Sam held up her hand. "No, I don't want or need your charity." She replied scornfully, and there was a moment of silence. Odd took this time to examine her face—Sam had 'earned' her vallaslin, as Aelita would say—her face was marked with a red sun between her eyebrows and two lines on both of her cheekbones. Her eyes had turned yellow during their separation, and Odd remembered the brown eyes she'd once had. He wondered if that was a side effect of the vallaslin, and, if it was, he wondered what color Aelita's eyes had been before she'd 'earned' her markings. "Although, Odd, maybe you could help me with something… personal."

"Of course, Sam. I owe you that, at least."

She waved him closer, and she whispered, "There's a man in the shadows of Kadic who owes me. I want you to help me get it."

Odd looked at her in confusion. "You want me to help you get money?" He asked. "I gave up stealing a long time ago."

"No, it isn't money, and even if it were, it isn't stealing if it belongs to me." Sam said, unable to look him in the eyes. "It's… information. On the location of a relic that can help me—both of us, even."

"What kind of relic?"

"It's a really old book. Like, I mean dating back hundreds of years, before the fall of Elvhenan." Sam explained, "It's really valuable. If I can get my paws on it, I'll be set up for life! The trouble is, this man seems to think that he needs it more." Odd seemed hesitant. "Please, Odd? Do it for me, for what we share."

Odd thought for a moment, and he sighed. "Fine. I'll help you get this relic, if that's what you need."

Sam smiled, her grin wolfish and borderline menacing. "Thank you so much, Odd! You won't regret this!" She said, hugging the Scout. "Meet me outside the Lucky Minstrel tonight. That's the brothel where I work. I'll slip away, and you and I can discuss the plan then."

* * *

He hadn't told anyone where he was going that evening—they would only try to stop him. The twisted streets of big cities always lead right to the dark part of town, where drug dealers and prostitutes waited like scavengers, so Odd had no trouble finding the whorehouse. It was dilapidated, with broken windows and a door falling off its hinges. Hanging over the entryway was a sign which looked to be a golden lute lying in a bed of roses, though time and weather had worn away the paint. Now it sort of looked like a bloody pig. The Scout leaned cautiously against the brick, as if just being near the place would give him a disease.

Sam snuck outside, and she'd exchanged her grey dress for a black leather cuirass and black pants. Attached to her belt were a whip and a serrated blade. She looked around and smiled when she saw Odd. "Oh, there you are. I didn't see you." She crossed her arms. "Are you ready?"

He stood up and nodded. "I'm ready. Where is this man?"

Sam looked over her shoulder, motioning to the manhole behind her. "He's lurking around in the sewers, like vermin do. Come on. He won't be there for long. Cover your nose." The duo walked over to the manhole cover, and they worked together to move it. Sam climbed down first, with Odd hesitantly following behind her. He closed the manhole as he did, and he was relieved to find an elevated walkway.

Nevertheless, he cringed at the smell. "Ugh, walking through the sewers to find some unknown mystery man. Why does this feel familiar?" Odd asked rhetorically, though the feeling of déjà vu was overpowering.

"It doesn't matter. We've got to find Mathias Burrel," Sam said, marching forward.

"Mathias Burrel? That's the man you're looking for?" Odd asked. Sam seemed so different than she had that morning. There was a stalking look to her gait, and now her fingers seemed more like claws.

She noticed that he had slowed his pace so she stopped and turned. Her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Crossing her arms she whispered urgently, "Odd, keep up. Mathias will only be here for a little while." She resumed her pace and Odd sped up his walk to keep up with her. "Yes, Mathias is the man who owes me. He isn't much older than that Nihonjin girl would be now—what was her name? Yuri?"

"Yumi," Odd corrected absentmindedly.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is he's down here and he has some explaining to do." After that they walked in silence the only sounds being the rushing of the sewage next to them and the rats that circled in the walls and on the walkways. Suddenly, Sam pointed to a man across the sewers holding a torch. "There's Mathias! Get him!" She shouted, sprinting after the figure with superhuman speed.

Odd was startled by the sudden change in pace, and he sprinted after her, though he was not half as fast. He kept to the walkways, trying his best to avoid getting his clothes dirty. He was sure he already smelled horrible.

When he caught up to Sam, Mathias—a man with dark hair and spectacles, like Jeremie's, in peasant's clothes—was wrapped in Sam's iron whip with her blade pressed against his throat. "Where is it? Tell me, you miserable mongrel!" She shouted.

Mathias whimpered. "Please, don't hurt me!"

Sam sliced off one of Mathias's fingers, and he screamed in pain. "There will be more where that came from if you don't start talking, Burrel!" She shouted, placing the blade against his throat again.

Odd pulled on Sam's shoulders. "Calm down, Sam! Give him a chance to talk or this whole venture was for nothing!" He reasoned. Sam glared at him, but she stood up, though she kept Mathias pinned to the ground with a lead-filled boot to his chest. Odd tried to reason with Mathias. "Listen, if you promised Sam you'd give her information, then it is your duty to relay it to her. Now, why don't you just tell us where this book is, and we'll be on our way."

"There's a hole in the ground—gah! It's really a hole in the ground, out on the plains! It's covered in grass and things but it's just at the bottom of a tree with the initials 'A.H' carved into it!" Mathias whimpered through the pain, struggling to break free of the whip and the boot. "Under the false panel in the treasure chest, there's a ladder that leads to the den. In the back room of the den, the Codex sits on a pedestal. Gah! No, I'm not being cryptic; those are really the instructions to get it! But beware, because the pack is guarding it, and you aren't the only one looking for it!" Mathias started crying, and Sam looked up at Odd.

"Well? Do you believe him?" Sam asked.

Odd shrugged. "He doesn't really have a reason to lie, does he?"

"Hmm. Very well," Sam said. She lifted her boot off of Mathias's chest, and she released him from the binds of the whip. "I had better not see your sorry face again, Burrel! You had better run!" She shouted as he scurried off into the darkness of the sewers. Smiling, she looked at Odd. "Well, just one more trip. Feel like helping me out one last time?"

"Of course I'll help you, Sam, but this book—Mathias called it the Codex. What is it? What does it do? Why is it so valuable?" Odd asked as Sam lead him to another manhole.

Sam hesitated to answer him. "There are too many magistrates for me to tell you anything here. I'll tell you when we get out of the city."

* * *

When Odd suggested they take Rorkal to get to the tree faster, Sam agreed hurriedly. Though when they reached the aravel, she seemed dreadfully disappointed to learn Rorkal was just a horse. "Oh, I thought he would be… more exciting." She sighed.

"I know, he's just a horse! That isn't as exciting as a griffon or something, but hey, what are you going to do?" Odd said.

"Odd, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in bed?" A voice asked. Odd looked to find Aelita seated on top of the aravel, and it appeared that she was knitting scarves.

Flabbergasted, and a bit annoyed that any of his friends were going to find out what he was doing, he asked, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"The spirits are very active tonight. Whenever I try to sleep, they torment my dreams." Aelita replied. "But you are not subject to overactive spirits and I asked you first. Why are you not in bed, lethallin? And who is this?"

"Aelita, this is Sam. You remember, I told you about her." Odd crossed his arms. "I'm just helping her get some money. Is there a problem with this?"

"Not that I can think of," She answered, though she didn't sound confident. "Are you taking Rorkal out for a midnight stroll? I can't imagine he'll be too happy about being woken up, but it'll be good for him to get some exercise. We've been stationary for far too long."

Odd mounted the horse, and he helped Sam to mount as well. "Well, I'm glad to know that you approve." He said flatly.

"Be careful, Odd. The forest and the plains will be far more dangerous tonight than before." Aelita warned.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Let's go. We've got a lot of ground to cover before sunrise." She said, and Odd snapped the reigns. Rorkal galloped away from the forest surroundings of Kadic towards the open plains. "The Codex is the shortened title of the relic that I'm looking for. Its full title is the Codex of the Night Hunters, and it can heighten the abilities of any creature born of the night. That means vampires, goblins, some kinds of dragons, demons, and yes, werewolves.

"After we broke up, I came to Kadic, hoping to start a new life. But as you know, the wolf-blood calls to us wherever we are. Then I heard about the Codex, and I realized that if I had it, I would be able to control my transformations. I've been searching for it for about a year now." Sam explained, as they came to a small grove of trees.

Odd and Sam dismounted, and Odd instructed Rorkal to wait for them outside of the grove. Entering the grove, the duo examined the trunks of every tree in their path until Odd spotted one with 'A.H' carved into the bark. They searched the grass below, and Sam tore up the dirt to find a treasure chest hidden in the thicket. Opening it, the two worked together to remove the false bottom, which revealed a dark tunnel leading into the ground. Odd hesitated for a moment, holding his head in his hand. "Are you alright, Odd?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… have a headache. It's gone now." Odd said, and he motioned to the tunnel. "Well? Ladies first."

Sam smiled and jumped inside, and Odd followed behind her. "Do you smell that? Wolf-kin. We aren't alone here…" She whispered. "It seems that Mathias was telling the truth."

The passage opened up to a large room with many beds and banners decorated with the phases of the moon. But this was not the most shocking thing. The shocking thing was the dozen dead people littering the room. Many were human, though at least two were dwarves and one was an elf. Every one of them smelled of wolf. "Dead werewolves. Are the magistrates to blame?" Odd asked.

"If the magistrates had been here, they'd have set the place on fire. Something else killed the wolf-kin, and recently." Sam said. They both jumped when they heard voices, two masculine and one feminine, but all were familiar to her. "Prepare your arrows. There's going to be a fight." Sam whispered.

The two hid on either side of the entrance to the back room. "Another cursed relic for our collection. The Archivist will be pleased, no doubt." One of the masculine voices said.

Odd drew an arrow and aimed for the person closest to the pedestal. All three wore thick red tunics with blue leggings. Over their clothes were salmon-colored scarves and cloaks, and their faces were obscured by blue masks and glass goggles. As the man reached to take the Codex, he could see the blue fingerless gloves. Odd released the primed arrow, striking the man in the forehead, knocking him back. The other man drew twin blades, and the woman drew a broadsword. Sam lept from her hiding place, using her whip to bring the woman down before pouncing on her like a lioness. The remaining man charged after Sam, but Odd grabbed his cloak and yanked him down. He tore at the man's face with his clawed gauntlets, and Sam appeared over Odd's shoulder to slit the man's throat.

"Let's hope there aren't any more of them. I don't hear anyone else." Sam said, wiping her blade on her leggings.

Odd stood. "Who were they? Their outfits were strange, and they spoke of the relic being cursed and of an Archivist."

She waved him off. "No one of consequence, and don't believe them when they say the relic is cursed. Curses don't exist." Sam stated in a confident tone. She approached the pedestal. "Damn, I've spent a whole year of my life searching for this, and finally, my hard work will pay off!" She exclaimed, tracing the cover of the Codex. It was leather, but it was worn and soaked in blood. It was locked shut, though the key lay beside it. Sam held the key in her hand, and she examined it. "I hope it feels like it should."

Odd looked back at the book, and he could've sworn he saw it move. "Gods above! Sam, that thing is evil!"

"What, just because you don't understand it, it automatically makes it evil? We spend every minute of our lives trying to hide who we really are, for fear that if it gets out we'll be killed! This book—this glorious relic—holds the secret to making the people of Lyoko accept us!" Sam declared as she placed the key in the lock and turned it. The book's pages flew open, and it looked like the nighttime sky blasted out of the pages, consuming Sam in its mystery. She screamed, but then she laughed, and Odd watched her warp through the starlight. Sam wasn't in control of her beast form—it was controlling her!

Odd struggled to get closer, yet something kept him at bay. He inched closer to the blackness that seemed to be spreading, and he could feel it try to wrap itself around his legs. He shook it off and searched for Sam in the darkness. "Sam, you have to fight this!"

Sam spoke, but her voice had changed. It was the voice of a wolf if a wolf could speak—a menacing growl, full of hunger and bloodlust. "I will not fight. I will submit to the will of the wolf, and so will you!" She reached out of the blackness and grabbed his shoulders with her paws, trying to pull him into the night. He struggled against her, kicking and screaming.

The blackness disappeared in a burst of white light, and Sam collapsed to the floor. Now Odd could see what the Codex had done to her—she was larger than any normal werewolf, now easily eight feet tall. Her arm muscles were bulging, and her teeth were the size of Odd's middle finger. Slowly, she began to warp back into her elven form.

Odd looked up, and he saw Patrick in the doorway, decked out in his magistrate armor. Behind him stood the other Heroes, who had also come ready to fight. "What in the name of the gods is going on here?" Patrick demanded, lowering his hand and approaching the Scout.

Since he was unwilling to admit to lycanthropy, Odd struggled to explain. Finally, he said, "Sam was an ex-lover of mine back in Capital Lyoko. It turns out that she was a werewolf—but you saw that. She asked me to help her make some money, and I agreed. She led me here, and we found this book. It… changed her." He shook his head. "Gods, I don't know what is going on myself. She told me about this thing, but I didn't know this would happen." He looked at Patrick in confusion. "How did you know I was here?"

He motioned to his cousin. "Ask Jeremie."

Odd looked to the Wise Man, but Aelita spoke. "After you left, I went into the city and told Jeremie that you were acting strangely, and that you and Sam had run off with Rorkal."

Jeremie spoke next. "I used my telepathy to find you. Do you not remember?"

Odd remembered the headache he had gotten outside of the den. "Oh, that was you?" He asked.

"Yes. The information wasn't much to go on, but we were able to find you quickly." Jeremie said.

Laura approached the Scout. "I don't see any injuries. Were you hurt?" She asked.

He sighed. "Nothing I won't recover from."

Patrick tied Sam's hands together with rope. "Well, I can't guarantee how much she'll remember, but I'm going to have to take her to the prisons. We can't have a werewolf on the loose." The magistrate said, lifting up Sam and trying his best not to let her fall.

"Please, don't let the Knight Templar execute her. She used to be a good person, I swear. She isn't acting like herself." Odd pleaded.

Patrick didn't seem too pleased, but his stern expression broke into a smile, and he said, "I'll see if I can't convince her to try curing her lycanthropy when she wakes up, but if she's uncooperative…"

Odd nodded. "I know. But, try to convince her to do it? For me?" He grinned.

"I'll try. I promise nothing." Patrick said, and he left the back room in silence, dragging Sam along with him.

When everyone was certain the magistrate was out of earshot, William looked back to Odd. "Don't you feel bad for forcing Sam into something you won't do yourself?"

"Sam has gone crazy. I'm in control," Odd said firmly.

Yumi kneeled by the corpses in the strange clothes. One of them was wearing a heavy gold amulet carved with a symbol. It was the sun, overlapped by two crescent moons. "Jeremie, isn't this the symbol on your mother's book bag?" She asked, removing the amulet to hand to the Wise Man. He compared the two symbols, and they were indeed the same. "What could it mean?"

"I don't know. I've only ever seen this symbol on my mother's book bag. I thought it was something personal to her—I have no idea what it means." Jeremie said, though he stored the amulet in the bag.

Odd grabbed the Codex from the pedestal. "They spoke about bringing the Codex to the Archivist. Did your mother ever mention someone like that?" He asked.

Jeremie thought for a moment. "Not that I can remember, though both she and my father were close to the archivist in the monastery in Capital Lyoko. I doubt they're the same person, though."

Ulrich shrugged. "If I know anything about our luck, and I do, we'll find out soon enough."

Jeremie smiled. "No doubt." He motioned for the others to follow him. "We speak with the mayor tomorrow, and then it's time for us to hit the road again."


	15. Summer 15

_Episode 15: Into Chaos_

13th of Ferventis

The sun itself hadn't yet completely risen from bed when the Heroes awoke. Laura, since she had the most recent watch, had already been awake for hours and she used that time to make breakfast for the group. As they began to eat, William noted, "It's been three months since Capital Lyoko fell, and I don't feel any closer to a conclusion now than I did when we knew nothing about the attack except that it would occur."

Yumi smiled. "At least we know our enemy, and we're ahead of Xana. We're doing well to save many lives."

"It just feels like we're on the wrong side of a losing battle." William said.

His statement hung in the air as not one of the heroes felt able to challenge its veracity. Xana knew they were still together and she was doing her best to kill them. What felt worse was that it seemed they were giving Xana the best path to each of the towns they visited. Still, at least those places were not caught unprepared. After a long silence, Laura took in a deep breath and smiled at Jeremie. In the friendliest tone she could manage, she said, "So, Jeremie, I was thinking that after we defeat Xana, you and I should get married!"

If the camp had been silent before, it was a vacuum then. Not even the fire dared to crackle. The group looked in anticipation to Jeremie, since this was a proposal no normal human would pass up, but everyone knew that Jeremie was in a relationship with Aelita. The Wise Man, however, was only aware of two pairs of eyes—Laura's and Aelita's. The proposal had come out of nowhere, and he could honestly say that he was unprepared.

Coughing, Jeremie covered his mouth until he caught his breath. "I'm sorry, what?"

Laura flipped her hair back, and she elaborated. "Well, once we have defeated the drow, we'll be war heroes, and we all recognize you as our leader. It is customary for war heroes to marry princesses anyway, so we may as well get used to the idea now."

Jeremie laughed nervously. "As much as I… appreciate the offer, Princess, I don't think even a title of war hero will endear me enough to the citizens of Lyoko for them to forget that I am the son of two scholars and not someone important like… I don't know; a nobleman or something."

"You're selling yourself short. Your heritage will be forgotten, and you'll be recognized as a hero of the people." Laura said cheerfully, and Aelita muttered something under her breath that sounded condescending. "Besides, you've shown yourself to be a great leader. Our union will be a strong one."

"That's… That's really nice of you, Laura, but I just don't think that it is a good idea to be discussing these things," Jeremie's face was turning bright red. "We should probably let our fathers deal with this."

"It's the age of the Guardian; pretty soon, no one will have their fathers arrange their marriages."

Ulrich snorted loudly. "Ha! That'll be the day."

Laura glared at him, and then returned her gaze to Jeremie, who had taken a sudden and overpowering interest in the fire. "Just promise me you'll think about it?" She suggested. The Wise Man grunted in a nonspecific tone and the Heroes started eating again, though the atmosphere was no longer the same.

When she felt it was safe, Aelita smiled weakly at Jeremie. "Don't forget that we agreed to go scouting together once we set up camp tonight, lethallin."

"I haven't forgotten." Jeremie replied, and he was happy to do it, especially since it meant getting away from Laura.

* * *

Dhaune flinched at the pool in front of her, having witnessed the entire scene. Even she had been shocked by Laura's proposal, but she was even more shocked to learn that Jeremie, who had never had trouble denying or deciding before, had been unable to reject her, even though it was clear he wanted to. "And he's supposed to be the Wise Man," She muttered with pity.

"What about the Wise Man?" Xana asked as she entered the war room. Dhaune jumped, nearly knocking over the pool of holy water. Xana sighed in frustration, fed up with the general. "This had better be good, Dhaune, or so help me…"

Flinching, Dhaune reported, "The Fair offered the Wise Man a proposal of marriage, even though she knows that the Wise Man is in a relationship with the Outcast." Xana seemed unimpressed, so she added, "As you know, the Fair and the Outcast do not get along at all. She's doing this to drive a wedge between the Outcast and the Wise Man, probably so she can take him for herself or just to hurt the Outcast, I don't know. But it can work to our advantage."

Xana smiled. "You are right. Have you been keeping a close eye on her dreams?"

"I have, Matron Mother." Dhaune nodded. "Though, her dreams are just faces of those she feels she has disappointed; those who according to all records and accounts are long since dead."

"So then, have her disappoint the Wise Man," Xana waved the general off and proceeded to leave the room. Dhaune looked back at the pool of holy water and sighed. Have Aelita disappoint Jeremie? How would she do that? She stared at the pool for many hours before an idea graced her mind.

* * *

The group had decided to stop early that night, as they were nowhere close to a town and none of them felt like walking. Ulrich and Aelita opened up the aravel, like they did every night, and the others began to set up their tents. Odd sat up and shouted, "Three men headed our way, heavy armor, swift pace!"

The teenagers dropped what they were doing and prepared to attack, but when the men approached, everyone but Aelita relaxed. Three magistrates had approached them. Ulrich placed a hand on her shoulder to ask her to calm down. "Travelers?" One of the magistrates asked his fellow knights. "Not many would brave the roads in a time where not even our king sends messengers."

"Capital Lyoko has fallen. We are spreading word to the towns across Lyoko so they can prepare themselves." Jeremie informed the magistrates.

A different magistrate held up a hand masked in a gauntlet. "It is of no matter. So long as you are in this region, the Knight Templar demands that we search your belongings for signs of blood magic."

Odd scoffed at the knights. "The only blood magic around here will be when those three finally synchronize." He joked as he pointed at the women in the group with his thumb. The girls stared at him with offended disbelief, but the boys were laughing as hard as they could. Even the magistrates let out a giggle.

The leader of the group of magistrates shook his head. "Nevertheless, it is demanded and we shall deliver. Now please, stand aside."

The teenagers had no choice but to obey, and the magistrates searched their belongings. They seemed to linger on the Codex, which Odd had so adamantly refused to part with, but they couldn't seem to conclude that it was connected to blood magic so they left it. The shortest magistrate thanked the teens for their cooperation, and Laura noticed from the corner of her eye that Aelita relaxed ever so slightly when they had gone.

The space between them was an abyss. Aelita stared over the cliffs, and Jeremie went between watching her and the sky as they walked. Once they had gotten about half a mile from camp, Jeremie broke the silence and asked, "This is about what happened with Laura, isn't it?"

Aelita furrowed her brows. "Oh, you think?" She asked rhetorically. "You should have said no, Jeremie."

"I don't know how they do it where you're from, Aelita, but in Lyoko, when a princess offers you a marriage proposal, you accept it." Jeremie explained.

"But you don't love her!" Aelita protested.

Jeremie laughed bitterly. "Since when has love had anything to do with marriage?"

"Surely your parents must've loved each other. Even a little?" She offered.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they were an exception. But for the most part, marriages are status-raising events. If Laura has chosen me, there's no way my father will deny her." He smiled at Aelita. "But even now it isn't a sure thing, Aelita. I'm not going to marry Laura."

"You should tell her that. She thinks that you're considering it."

"No, I don't think it's a good idea to tell her no. She is a princess, after all."

Aelita muttered something under her breath, and it sounded like 'shemlen.' Jeremie couldn't get mad at her for it—even he hated the idea of a loveless marriage.

They continued walking in an uncomfortable silence until they arrived at a pond near a waterfall. They'd passed it on the road and Aelita had wanted to check it out again, as something 'felt strange,' she had said. Now she examined the surroundings, especially the rocks. She called Jeremie over and showed him markings that had been carved in the stones, though the water had eroded most of them away, and then pointed to the strange rock formations at the top of the cliff. "In the days of Elvhenan, we had many places where we hid treasures from thieves. They were rumored to be sealed magically, and only magicians recognized by the Creator could open them. After the humans invaded, we hid these places better by masking them with water." She smiled at the human boy. "I'll bet that if we were to go for a dive, I could open the door. After all, I have earned my vallaslin, and now all I need to do is activate it."

"What do you think we'll find within?" Jeremie asked as Aelita approached the water.

Aelita pulled of her shirt and her skirt, keeping on only her smallclothes and her bandages. Jeremie felt his face heat up, and he covered his mouth with his hand. "I'm not sure, but it's bound to be beautiful and powerful," She smiled, and then laughed at his flustered expression. "You do swim, don't you? I don't think many mortals, human, elven or otherwise, swim with their clothes on. Am I wrong?" He shook his head, unable to speak due to his swelled tongue. She waited in the shallow end of the water, and in teasing impatience, asked, "Well? Are you coming?"

Jeremie struggled to find his voice. 'I—I can't strip while you're watching!" She rolled her eyes, but turned so her back was facing him. Jeremie removed his shirt and checked to see if Aelita was watching him.

She wasn't, but he noticed scars that decorated her shoulder blades. They were long and thin, though it seemed that most of them had healed over with new skin long ago. He concluded they must've been from her time at Arak-Muna, though he knew that he would never ask and probably spend a long time denying he'd seen the scars. He removed his boots and his pants, and he gently grabbed Aelita's shoulder, being careful not to get near the scars. She turned and smiled at him. "Come on, if we don't hurry, the others will get worried, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not explain why we're both in our smallclothes."

He smiled back. "No, I don't think that would be a comfortable situation for anyone," Jeremie replied as he dove into the water, purposefully splashing the Outcast.

"Hey!" She screeched happily, and dove after him. Now that she was underwater, she could hear the ancient humming of the elven runes. Their stories said that, like the language that dragons used among each other, the elven runes had a deeper meaning than just communication and when applied by a master, could sing to anyone versed in the tongue. Aelita searched for the source of the sound, with Jeremie close behind her. It was near the bottom of the pond, and though the sun was setting now, it provided enough light for the elf to see the pad where she put her hand.

Her palm left a white imprint on the pad, and it flickered before the light spread through the archaic designs. The entire pond lit up with white light, startling the fish that inhabited it. The stone opened, but just barely enough for the teenagers to swim through. Jeremie grabbed Aelita's wrist and pointed for her to swim up. They broke the surface of the water, and caught their breath. "See? Didn't I tell you?" Aelita asked.

He laughed. "I never doubted you for a second." They treaded water until they came to a dry platform in the air pocket, where the duo pulled themselves out. "So, when do we find this treasure you promised, and how do you know that it is still here?"

"Well, the door was shut, there's that," Aelita said, and she stood, almost losing her balance and falling backwards into the water. "Although the treasure can't be too much farther, I doubt it has any real value to anyone other than the People."

"Still, this is a good chance to learn something." The Wise Man said, and they walked into the darkness. Aelita pushed on a granite slab, which became indented and slid out of the way at her touch. Inside there was a brightly lit room filled with many items, all of elven make. Jeremie spotted a mirror twice the size of any he'd ever seen before, a pile of golden coins carved with the profile of an elf in a crown, a staff that was carved out of ebony and had a mithril blade and horsehair tuft at the end, and the skeleton of a person who had died in his armor and with his blade. "Gods above. This man died to protect these things," Jeremie said as he approached the skeleton.

Aelita nodded sadly. "Many died here, in case the shemlen broke our defenses and tried to steal our artifacts. The ultimate humiliation would have been to have died at the hands of something you created." She explained. She approached the skeleton and sang the elven dirge for him out of respect for his sacrifice.

Jeremie stood and searched the room. "Do you know what any of these things are?" He asked.

"Some of them, yes. The mirror is called an Eluvian. Every clan has one, and a person who maintains it." She cringed. "You don't want to be around a broken Eluvian. Actually, you'd better avoid that one, just in case it's passed its use-by date. Everything else here, I don't know. I've never heard of these things. Well, except the coins, but those are self-explanatory."

The teenagers rummaged through the old items. Jeremie found a gauntlet that opened into a sword, which he slid on his arm to get a feel for. Oddly, it added no weight to his arm, and he maintained some level of dexterity. "The elves seemed really advanced, contrary to our stories. The humans say that your people were savages."

Aelita didn't even bother to face him. "They still say that." She said flatly. She pulled a mask of a rabbit out of the pile. It was painted black with white and red designs on the middle of the head and around the mouth. "Doesn't this make you think of Yumi? This design looks almost Nihonjin in origin. I wonder if we borrowed the design from Nippon?" Aelita placed the mask on her face, but before she even got a chance to tie the strings, she'd vanished into thin air. Jeremie jumped, and Aelita reappeared, the mask now away from her face. They looked at each other for a moment before Aelita grinned. "That was awesome."

* * *

Dhaune had watched Jeremie and Aelita dive into the pond, but she hadn't bothered to investigate further into what they were doing. Instead, Xana's order floated in her mind. She scanned the area, searching for a way to drive a wedge between them.

Constructs were not an option. Dhaune wanted to prove to Xana that she could follow orders and not waste resources doing it. She could summon demons, but she couldn't imagine how that would drive them apart, and Aelita could sense them anyway. She discovered a bandit camp as she scanned the area, and an idea popped into her head. Aelita was a glass canon, and after three months on the road, Jeremie was still only slightly better at combat than he had been, and could easily be taken down. Bandits were sleazy people and they probably wouldn't kill Aelita, but they would kill Jeremie if they had the chance. Dhaune summoned a spell, which affected the bandits even though they were nowhere close to her. She showed them images of their targets, and she waited eagerly as they stood.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita were headed back towards camp, and while they walked much closer now, they were still separated because of Laura. Aelita carried the mask while Jeremie carried the gauntlet and a book he insisted she enchant for him so he could take it out of the cave without the ink running. "Maybe with your help, we can translate these pages. Who knows? You may learn about your culture." The Wise Man suggested as he leafed through the pages. It consisted mostly of runes, though it also contained detailed pictures of monsters and what he could only assume were religious images.

Aelita mused aloud. "I wonder if it contains the origin of the lobster," When Jeremie seemed confused, she said, "My hahren Edna always hated lobster. She said that when the Creator designed the lobster, he decreed that it came out wrong, and had his guide Falon'din try it. When Falon'din decreed it a monstrosity, he sent it to the Destructor, who also hated it, and had her guide, Elgar'nan, try it. Well, Elgar'nan didn't like it either, so the Destructor said, 'okay, we'll put this at the bottom of the ocean where nobody will find it'." She held her head and laughed. "I don't know if that's true, but did I ever believe it."

Jeremie laughed too. "Leave it to the humans to find it and eat it, huh?"

They laughed, but they fell silent when they heard something in the thicket. Jeremie stepped in front of Aelita as a dozen bandits emerged from the thicket. "Well, well, well. What have we here?" The bandit dressed in looted iron armor asked, as he approached the teens. Jeremie drew his sword. "Feisty. This will be fun." The bandit laughed.

Jeremie and Aelita dropped the items they carried to prepare for the fight. Jeremie prepared his shield, and Aelita summoned ice between her hands. The bandits prepared their weapons, which ranged anywhere from morning stars to broadswords. Outnumbered six to one, Jeremie tried to figure out a way to avoid a conflict, or at least survive. The only option seemed to be for him to play defense while Aelita moved further away to take on more opponents. He communicated this to Aelita telepathically, and she nodded.

Aelita burst into butterflies and moved further away, and Jeremie sliced at the bandit leader to gain their attention. He was soon swarmed by the bandits, and he struggled to keep up with their repeated strikes. Aelita froze three of the bandits in a column of ice, and some of their adversaries turned to her. "Get 'er hands! I hear they can't do no spells with no hands!" One of them shouted.

"No! I won't let you touch her!" Jeremie shouted, slicing at the bandit's knees, bringing him down so Jeremie could slice at his neck. This was a different feeling than the one he had experienced in Narza—he hoped he wasn't becoming indifferent to death. One of the bandits snuck up behind Jeremie and grabbed him, and before he even had time to scream, his throat had been slit, and the bandit pushed him down.

"Jeremie! No!" Aelita shouted, and suddenly he was entombed in an earthen pyramid. Aelita appeared, which he assumed by magic. She looked at him for a mere second before she placed her hand on his bleeding throat. A red light filled the pyramid, which had started spewing dust as the bandits tried to break in. Jeremie's neck and spine were filled with a burning pain, and he tried to scream. "Calm down! I'm only trying to save you!" Aelita said urgently, and soon, the light faded. Jeremie sat up and held his hand to his neck, which had healed over. Aelita summoned the mask that she'd found in the cave and placed it on his face. "Stay hidden. I'll finish them off."

Aelita sank into the ground as another bandit strike created a crack large enough for Jeremie to see through. He peered through it, unconvinced that he'd witnessed what he had just seen. Aelita had said that when she attempted healing spells, something went wrong. Perhaps that meant that they were painful, unlike the warm tingle of a typical spell?

Outside, Aelita sent boulders at three of the bandits, leaving five remaining. She sent a wall of ice after two of them, but they jumped out of the way. The bandit leader snuck up behind the Outcast, and Jeremie shouted in his mind for her to watch behind her. She spun around, and Jeremie could only watch in horror as the bandit plunged his sword into her gut. The Wise Man pounded his fists against the stones, screaming her name, but Aelita simply started to laugh.

From the center of her chest, Erahalam appeared blade first, and Aelita was cloaked in an aura of fire. The blade ran through the bandit leader's chest, and she pushed against it to draw the rest of the staff out. The Outcast yanked the blade from the bandit's chest, and she slammed Murray the Skull against his head. She stomped on his neck, sending him up in flames. "Witch! Witch!" The remaining bandits shouted in unison, and they swarmed her. The first one who got near enough to touch her had no time to strike, as she manipulated the earth to stand on eye-level with him. She grabbed his forehead, and within seconds he was screaming. His blood vessels grew red hot, and he fell, his blood having melted his insides like magma. Aelita immediately manipulated the blood of one of the three living bandits and forced him to attack another. She focused on the third and froze his blood.

When the bandit she'd manipulated killed his comrade, Aelita released him from her spell and sheathed Erahalam, as if giving him a chance to run. He charged her, and she reached forward and grabbed air. A black, demonic hand severed the Veil and snatched the bandit. She repeated the motion, and a second hand grabbed him. She furrowed her brows as if she were struggling to move her hands, and the bandit screeched. The hands clamped him tighter and ripped him into two pieces.

Aelita fell to her knees, clutching her still bleeding stomach. She closed the wound, clearly in pain, and the fiery aura faded. She was breathing heavily, though she managed to collapse the stone prison that had kept the Wise Man from harm. Jeremie, removing the mask, was without words at the sight before him. Aelita—sweet, innocent Aelita, the girl he'd protected and defended since Laura had first raised her suspicions—had not only used blood magic, but had summoned a demon. "By the gods, she was right," Jeremie breathed, his eyes focused on the stranger before him.

"Jeremie, please," Aelita managed through her pains. "You have to listen to me. I can explain everything!" She pleaded.

Jeremie stood and walked over to her, but he didn't offer to help her stand. "What is there to explain, Aelita?! You're a witch!"

She glared at him, her eyes flashing with a hundred different emotions. "I am not a witch!" She spat, and she pushed herself off the ground. "I am a blood magician, yes, but you have to listen to me!"

"No, why should I listen to you now, after you've lied to me for months about who you are?" Jeremie demanded.

"I never lied to you!" She said defensively. "I… just omitted the truth."

"Which is as bad as lying!" He shouted. He narrowed his eyes, and his arms began to shake. "I defended you, over and over, and you never spoke up, and you never said anything. Gods, Aelita how long were you planning on keeping this a secret?!"

"I was kind of hoping it would just… go away."

"The truth does not just 'go away'!"

Aelita looked at him with a half-hearted smile. "I didn't say it was a good plan!" When his face didn't change, she turned her attention to her feet. Then, she looked back at him, determination on her face. "I may have turned to a form of magic that the shemlen consider evil, but if I hadn't, we'd both have been dead a long time ago!"

Jeremie shook his head. "And that makes everything better?" He shouted. "Aelita, if the magistrates find out, they'll hunt us until the end of our days, and as a citizen of Lyoko, it is my duty to tell them."

Aelita suddenly grabbed his hands. "Please, for the love of the Creator, do not tell the magistrates!" She begged. "You have no idea what they'll do to me! Please, don't turn me in!"

He snatched his hands away. "Then what do you expect me to do, Aelita? I can't just ignore this!"

Aelita took his hands again and guided them to his sword. She wrapped his fingers around it, and she took a few steps back so her neck was at the tip of the blade. "If you cannot allow me to walk free, then kill me where I stand. I would rather die by your hands than live in the shadow of your betrayal."

Jeremie shook, and Aelita closed her eyes and looked to the ground, as if she'd known she would die this way for a long time. Jeremie angrily threw the sword on the ground, and he spun so his back faced her. She looked up, confused. "Go away!" He ordered, unable to look at her. "Go away and don't come back! I don't ever want to see you again!" Aelita reached out to grab his shoulder, but he yanked it away. "I said, _go away!_"

Aelita sighed. "Ma nuvenin," She whispered. She turned and ran in the opposite direction of camp, and she shifted her form into one of a fox before she disappeared into the wilderness.

When he was sure she had gone, he turned. The road was empty; spare the remains of the bandits. He collected the things they'd gathered in the cave, and he made his way back to camp. He tossed the mask to Yumi. "Aelita wanted to give this to you. She said that it reminded her of you." He explained as she examined it. "It's enchanted. It can make you invisible."

Yumi smiled. "That's really cool,"

William shifted. "Where is Aelita, anyway? Weren't the two of you together?"

Jeremie took a deep breath. "Aelita is a blood magician. I sent her away."

Laura jumped up and celebrated. "Ha! I told you!" She blushed and she looked down at her feet. "I mean, you should have listened to me."

Ulrich glared at the Wise Man. "Let me get this straight. You let Odd stay, even though he's a werewolf, but you force Aelita to go away just because she's a blood magician?" He stood, anger written on his face. "Who cares if she's a blood magician? Aelita is a Hero, and she's our friend! Did you even ask her why she did it?"

"I didn't have to ask, Ulrich!" Jeremie said adamantly. "There is no excuse for blood magic."

He groaned, and he tore at his hair. "Ah! You're such a dick!" Ulrich shouted.

Laura smiled at Jeremie. "I, for one, am glad that you saw reason and sent the knife ear away. She wasn't causing anything but trouble."

Jeremie didn't know if he agreed. He looked up at Laura and asked, "Is your proposal of marriage still open?"

Everyone, including Laura, was startled by Jeremie's change of heart. Odd laughed nervously and said, "Uh, Belpois? Even I don't move on that fast."

Jeremie glared at the Scout then looked back to Laura without a hint of amusement on his face. Instead his expression was one of cold stone and seriousness. "I'm afraid I don't really have anything to give you, though the next time we go into a town, I promise that I'll buy you a ring."

Laura was stunned, but she smiled and said, "Yes, of course!" She moved from one side of the fire to the other to sit next to the Wise Man, who turned his eyes to the leaves of the trees. It had seemed that only this morning the leaves had been lush green, though now, the leaves were turning yellow. Laura smiled at him and said, "It's going to be a lovely autumn this year, I can feel it."

—SUMMER ENDS—


	16. Autumn 1

_Book 2: Autumn_

_Episode 1: Aftershock_

28th of Ferventis

The leaves had turned from fading shades of greens to yellows and oranges, though the red and brown leaves had not yet arrived. To keep warm as Lyoko grew colder, the Heroes had layered their clothes. However, no amount of layering could protect them from the cold atmosphere that had spawned around them.

After Aelita had been sent away, the teenagers had fallen into subgroups that took a different stance on her exile. Jeremie, Laura and William were for it, as they knew the dangers a blood magician posed. Ulrich was firmly against it, to the point that he'd spent hours trying to find her, as he knew Aelita would never hurt them. Yumi and Odd were being torn apart, for they were undecided on the issue. On one hand, Aelita was their friend and had shown no animosity towards them, but on the other, she had made a deal with a demon, and there was no telling if she would do it again.

This left the group in an awkward position. All of them, spare Ulrich and William to an extent, walked on eggshells, knowing that one false move would cause the group to shatter. Laura had stopped advising Ulrich about his health, since he would snap at her every time. Yumi and Odd refused to speak of Aelita at all, and for the sake of unity were forced to pretend she hadn't existed in front of the others. Ulrich had stopped speaking to Jeremie altogether—he no longer even turned to Odd or Yumi to pass messages as he had in the beginning, nor did Jeremie offer reconciliation by checking in on Aelita.

Not that he could have anyway. Aelita had found a way—the Wise Man wasn't sure how—to block him from her mind. Evidently, she did not want to be found, wherever she had gone. Wherever she was though, she wasn't far away—she'd arrived one night and collected some of her things, and she had put leaves in the fire, making the camp smell like the branches of a vhenadahl.

On this morning, Jeremie had found three violet hyacinths on his chest. These flowers were commonly used when asking for forgiveness and he held them delicately in his hands, thumbing the purple petals. Was Aelita asking for forgiveness from him? He tried to contact her telepathically, and he managed to get a glimpse of the opening of a cave, probably carved into the side of a cliff. However, she pushed him out of her head almost instantly. He sighed and studied the hyacinths, pulled back to reality only by his fiancée grabbing his shoulder.

"What have you got there?" She asked as she took the flowers from his hands, which he protested slightly before placing his hands back in his lap. "Have you done something that you intend to apologize for?" Laura asked, her tone suggestive, but Jeremie didn't pick up on it.

"No, I think Aelita brought them to me in the night." Jeremie said quietly so as to not attract the attention of the other Heroes.

Laura tightened her grip on the flower stems. "How does she keep getting back to camp?" She asked angrily, "we should double our sentries."

Jeremie shook his head. "I don't think she's doing this to hurt us, Laura. She just wants to be close. Besides, she shapeshifts; she'd just take an animal form and sneak past them."

Laura sighed. "I suppose you're right. Still, we should make it clear that she isn't welcome here." She tossed the hyacinths into the flame, which Jeremie considered protesting, though ultimately he decided not to. Instead he watched them burn, the orange flame curling the lovely violet petals before consuming them, leaving nothing but ashes and smoke.

Half an hour later, William doused the fire while Yumi and Ulrich packed up the aravel. The group pressed forward. Jeremie walked by Laura's side, though his eyes were focused on the northern horizon, where he could see the mists rolling in from the cliffs. William marched behind them, his eyes scanning the trees for threats. Ulrich walked on the other side of the aravel, his hands twitching near his katanna. Yumi and Odd were at the very back, and the Colonist sighed in frustration. "This has gone on for long enough." She said firmly.

Odd shrugged. "I agree, but what can we do? Even if Aelita's return would force them to make up, we don't know where she is."

Yumi shook her head. "I don't know." She looked back up at the road, and she whispered, "I have a feeling, though, that she will return when the time is right."

"We can only hope."

* * *

It was late, though Jeremie insisted that they keep moving, since the map showed a town nearby. Odd tried to convince Jeremie that stopping in that town would cause misery, but Jeremie stood firm, saying that even a town filled with wicked people deserved to be warned about Xana's advances. So they kept moving, trudging onwards through the steadily darkening forest.

The sun was beginning to set behind the far-off mountains, and Odd was preparing to go "hunting"; the full moon was rising again. However, he stopped when he heard footsteps. Their steps sounded like magistrates, though they were a larger group—magistrates tended not to run in groups of more than three or four, yet Odd counted six distinct footsteps. "Magistrates headed our way."

Ulrich glared at Jeremie, William and Laura. "If any of you mention Aelita, I swear that I will cut you down where you stand."

The magistrates arrived minutes later, obviously impatient. The leader examined the faces of the teens, and he ordered his men to attack. The group did their best to fight them off, and Ulrich even managed to kill one of them, but they'd been taken by surprise, and it wasn't long before the magistrates had tied them up and forced them to their knees. "What is the meaning of this? I demand an explanation!"

The magistrate shook his head. "We got word from one of our sister outposts that the Veil was torn open by a witch, and that they found dead guards on the road with obvious signs of victimization at the hands of blood magic." He crossed his arms. "They did a bit of investigating, and they found traces of your camp nearby. After you crossed out of their district, we took over and tracked you here. Which one of you is the witch?"

Jeremie seemed confused. "Yes, we were in that area, but those weren't guards, and she… the witch is gone." He admitted.

The magistrate shook his head. "Lies, all lies!" He declared. He paced back forth as he elaborated. "Do you think the magistrates would be so clumsy as to mistake someone for a guard? And they found no evidence that the witch left your company!" He stopped pacing and bent to look Jeremie in the eyes. "Now, you know what they did find? An old tome written by witches to increase the abilities of those who prey on mortals. Now, why would a group of teenagers need that kind of book unless they are harboring a blood magician?"

Laura spoke now. "You don't know who you're dealing with! I am princess of Lyoko! I will not tolerate my friends and I being treated this way!"

The magistrate looked at her. "Perhaps, then, you should be worried about keeping a hold on your kingdom and not on protecting a witch."

She narrowed her eyes. "What have you heard?"

"There have been problems in the province of Replika ever since the Great Colony War, though your father has always managed to keep control of it." One of the other magistrates explained. "However, there have been reports of… unrest in the east since the drow attacked. The elves there have grown bolder, and unhappy revolutionists have driven the soldiers and the magistrates out of Cortex. It won't be long before all of Replika is involved in the Revolution."

Laura was surprised that the revolutionists of Replika had chosen now as the time to revolt, but she couldn't say she was surprised that they'd done it. Replika was never really under Lyoko's control, though they did abide by Lyoko's laws whether they liked it or not. She feared what would happen if the rebels aligned themselves with the drow.

William had a different concern. "How did you know about the dark elves?" He asked. "Did the magistrates tell you about them?"

"Yes and no," The helpful magistrate explained. "We've felt a disturbance in the Veil for a while now, though we hardly thought anything of it. The Veil in this district is notoriously thin anyway. However, the disturbances were getting stronger and more frequent, so we knew something was awake. Our brothers did tell us about Xana, though."

The leader stared at him. "If you're done flapping your lips, we have a job to do." He turned his attention to the Heroes. "If you won't tell us which one of you is the witch that murdered the guards, then we will do this the hard way. We'll keep you here all night if we have to, and for every hour that passes, we will kill one of you. Eventually, you will tell us, or you'll all be dead. Seems fair enough, no?" He laughed as the sun made him appear to glow. It had almost hidden completely behind the mountains. Yumi looked nervously to Odd, who was tied up beside her.

He trembled as the moon began to call to him. The hair on his arms was growing thicker at an alarming rate, and she could only hope that the magistrates wouldn't notice. Even if they didn't, eventually the moon would change his form entirely, and the magistrates would kill them all for hiding a werewolf from them.

For fifteen minutes, the teens sat in silence as Jeremie tried in vain to convince them that the blood magician was gone. He tried to convince them that the "guards" were bandits, though the magistrate simply called him a fool for trying to trick him. Odd hung his head, trying to hide his increasingly obvious transformation—or, at least it was obvious to Yumi. She bit her lip. Either they would all be killed by the magistrates for keeping secrets, or someone would have to agree to go with them to save the others. "It's me!" Yumi shouted, trying her best to make it sound like the pressure had broken her. "I'm the witch! I killed the guards! Take me away, but don't hurt the others!"

"Yumi, don't! Have you gone mad?" Ulrich shouted, shocked. She looked at him and nodded.

She turned her attention back to the magistrate. "I will go with you. Please, leave them be."

"Smart girl. Come on, now. You're coming with us." The leader of the magistrates grabbed Yumi's bound hands and forced her away from camp. "Leave the others. No doubt they'll want revenge for us stealing away their damager."

The magistrates left the camp while the teenagers struggled against their bindings. Odd, however, seemed more preoccupied by the moon. He struggled to hold back the wolf-blood, though soon it overpowered him and he howled, his eyes turning orange and fierce. His body shifted, his clothes ripped and his arms were freed from his bonds. He stood up and freed his friends. In a low, menacing growl, he spoke, "We must rescue Yumi. We've entered into Knight Templar Thomas Vincent's district, and he does not tolerate blood magicians, especially those without roots in Lyoko."

Jeremie stood, amazed. "You can speak in werewolf form? You never could before."

"This may be a side effect of being exposed to the Codex. It doesn't matter; we're wasting time." Odd growled, and the Heroes nodded. They'd wasted ten minutes after Yumi had been taken by the magistrates—certainly they had to catch up before the magistrates reached their outpost.

Yumi heard Odd's quickened pace, and she turned to look in his direction, though the magistrate forced her to turn her head around. The werewolf howled when he caught their scent, and it was only then that the corrupt magistrates bothered to turn around. "Werewolf! Werewolf! Prepare the silver!" The leader shouted, and the magistrates sheathed their steel swords in favor of silver weapons. "You there! Keep going! Don't let the witch get away!"

The magistrate nodded, and he dragged Yumi off towards the outpost, even though everyone knew that they weren't close. Behind him he could vaguely hear the others get into a blocking formation over the sounds of Yumi struggling to break free of his grasp. She dug her feet into the ground, stumbling herself and forcing her captor to stop and yank her up.

Odd appeared and pounced on the smallest of the magistrates, tearing out his throat before the man could even try to attack. The other magistrates swarmed him, striking with their silver weapons. Odd roared in pain as the silver tainted weapons left horrible looking burn marks across his skin then turned and slapped them aside with his great arm. As the disoriented magistrates struggled to rise in their steel plate armor Odd turned and roared in the face of the leader. Undaunted, the leader sliced at Odd's snout, causing the blood vessels in one eye to burst and creating a burning scar near his mouth.

"Run! Get the others!" Yumi shouted at the werewolf, as she continued struggling against her captor, knowing that by doing this she could very well doom him.

He looked at her. "They are coming!" He roared just before ripping out the throat of a nearby magistrate. He tackled the obviously dead man and ripped at his chest, throwing pieces of flesh over his shoulders.

Yumi cringed, both at his twisted voice and at his display. An owl landed on her hands and started ripping at the rope. She struggled to get her head to an angle where she could see it, but all she could tell was that it looked like a barn owl, elegant with white-gold feathers. It looked at her through wise, green eyes. "Aelita?" She whispered, and the owl cooed. The magistrate, pulled from his shocked stare at the werewolf ripping his comrades to bloody shreds, roughly shooed the owl away. '_Too late,_' Yumi thought towards her captor as she tested her bindings and felt that the ropes had been weakened. The others appeared and joined the fight, with Ulrich and William fighting the leader.

Yumi spun and struck the magistrate binding her, though her success was only enough to guarantee her freedom. She reached for the mask that now rested at her side, but the magistrate caught her hands. While they struggled against one another, the leader of the magistrates shouted, "Don't bother bringing her to the outpost! Get rid of her. NOW!"

With a mighty shove the magistrate threw Yumi to the ground and unsheathed his sword. Yumi scrambled backwards as he advanced until she could pull herself into a standing position. Her opponent lunged forward and she twirled out of the way. Using her momentum she continued spinning, grabbing the Magistrate's armor and pushing him forward as she moved behind him. Her telekinesis ripped the sword away from her attacker before a strong punch from a steel gauntlet ripped away her focus.

Coughing, she forced herself to fall back, but in the wrong direction. The magistrate advanced, his plate armor rendering Yumi's attacks fruitless as he pushed her to the edge of the cliff. Ulrich spotted this and sprinted her way. "No!" He shouted as the magistrate pushed Yumi over the side of the cliff, and she screamed. Ulrich drove his katanna through the magistrate's neck, and he looked over the cliff. "YUMI!" He shouted. An owl swooped over his head, and it changed form, but it happened too quickly for Ulrich to identify the person. He had a guess, though.

The person grabbed Yumi, and a boulder came flying from the cliff on the opposite side of the divide. There was spinning, and the boulder struck the shapeshifter, sending them both into the cliff, where they vanished from sight. Ulrich could only imagine they'd been forced into a cave. He sighed, relieved, then looked up at the other Heroes, who had finished off the magistrates, and smiled at them. "She's alright!" Ulrich informed them, causing the group to release a collective sigh.

The Heroes joined Ulrich by the side of the cliff, and Jeremie noted aloud that he'd seen the place before. Yumi peered warily out of the cave. "Down here, hurry! Send Laura!" She shouted up at them.

Laura peered over the edge and sighed. "I hope you don't expect me to climb down there! I'm no good at rock climbing!" Odd instead hung over the side of the cliff, almost monkey-like in his posture, and he offered a strong, clawed hand to the Fair. "Oh, for the love of Minerva." She muttered as she took Odd's hand. The werewolf swung her carefully, and threw her into the cave.

Yumi helped her into the cave, and near the back, she saw a figure. "She needs your help, Laura. I think she may be dying." Yumi said gravely, and Laura rushed to the figure's side.

She glared at Yumi when she recognized the face. "What is the meaning of this?"

The Colonist narrowed her eyes. "Aelita is our friend, and a Hero! She saved my life, and I think she's due the same courtesy!"

Laura huffed, admitting defeat. She studied the Outcast's body. She'd changed her robes, going from her short clothes to a dress with slits up the side, and chainmail beneath. Attached to mithril hoops on her shoulders was a ratty old brown cloak, and hanging from her side was a dirty white sheet, obviously serving as a carrying case for her things. Aelita's face was covered in tiny scars, like she'd been in a fight with a small animal. Perhaps she had been; the Fair had no way of knowing. Her ribs were dented strangely. "I can heal the scars on her face, though I am reluctant to; they aren't life threatening. However, I believe her ribs may be broken, which could prove harmful if left unchecked." She sighed. "I can set them for now, but I'm a priest, not a doctor. I can't heal broken bones. Only time can do that."

Yumi pressed her hands together. "There must be something we can do! She'll die if we do nothing!" She looked at her hands, her eyes filled with worry. "Gods, I don't know what I'll do if she dies because of me!"

Laura thought for a while. "Maybe we can do something. It's risky, and it may cause some more damage, but it may also save her." She tried to sound helpful, but Yumi noted the bitterness behind her voice. She explained her plan—the two of them would carry Aelita to the edge of the cliff, and then Jeremie would use his telepathy to strengthen Yumi's telekinesis. Then, Odd, since he was the strongest due to his current form, would carry Aelita to the aravel, where they would take her to the next town they came to.

Yumi agreed, and though Aelita put up a fight when Laura touched her, she obviously knew that her life was on the line. The human girls carried the Outcast to the edge of the cliff, where Jeremie and Yumi collectively helped her to the top. Odd passed her off to Ulrich, since William refused to touch her, and then the werewolf helped the human girls back up.

The Heroes returned to the aravel. Aelita was silent, probably due to her pain. She made one small gesture, however—she waved Jeremie closer to her, and presented him with another violet hyacinth. He took it, and she smiled at him, though his face did not change. Sensing the tension had not dissolved yet, Aelita frowned and averted her eyes.

Odd placed Aelita on one of the cots inside of the aravel, and the group tried to calm Rorkal, still shaken by Odd's transformation. "We must turn back. There's a town about a day back." Ulrich said firmly.

"We can't go back! The magistrates want us there! Don't you think that they've got others looking for us?" Jeremie disagreed, a poor start to the first conversation they'd had in days. "The best we can do is move forward and hope the news hasn't reached them!" The animosity between them was almost visible, and Jeremie sighed. "Listen, I wouldn't normally suggest going there, due to our current company and since I sent William to deliver a message so we could avoid it, but if we hurry, we can reach Falcon's Bridge by morning."

Ulrich narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. "Very well. I'm going to watch over Aelita; I don't want her condition to get any worse."

He stormed into the aravel, and he jerked as it began to move. "I missed the sound of the creaking aravel." Aelita murmured, and Ulrich approached her.

"We missed you. Well, most of us." Ulrich sat down next to her. That was the same spot Jeremie had sat in when Dhaune had lied in their aravel, but this time was different. This was Aelita, not the heartless she-bitch who'd hurt Yumi. This was the gentle Kitten that Jeremie had barked at and driven away. "You saved Yumi's life, Aelita. You should be proud, not moping." He teased her.

She looked up at the ceiling of the aravel, and then out the window. She tried to sit up, as if to open it, but Ulrich gently pushed her down and opened it for her. "I saved Jeremie's life, too, on that day, but I am no more proud of that than I am of this or anything in my life." She sighed. "Everyone I care for thinks that I'm a monster."

"You aren't a monster, Kitten. You're my sister." Ulrich said with a smile. She smiled back weakly, though it vanished quickly. "We're taking you to Falcon's Bridge. With any luck, the doctors there—"

"No!" Aelita shouted suddenly, jerking up and startling the Mercenary. "We cannot go to Falcon's Bridge! I cannot go to Falcon's Bridge!"

"What's wrong? Why can't you go to Falcon's Bridge?"

She rolled her head so she wasn't looking at him, as if this would hide her shame. "If we go to Falcon's Bridge, you won't like me anymore."

Ulrich laughed. "Oh, Kitten. That could never happen. Besides, I'd rather see you alive." He smiled. "Maybe you should get some rest. I'll watch over you, and I won't let any harm come to you."

"If only words could make it so, lethallin."

* * *

29th of Ferventis

The Heroes reached Falcon's Bridge just as the early morning rabble began. They were stopped at the beginning of the bridge that led into town. It was built to resemble a falcon, hence the name of the town. Their adversary, a dwarf in iron armor carrying a battleax stood at the bridge before them. He had short brown hair and scruff on his chin, as well as a bandage wrapped under his eye and around his head. "Veata, travelers. My name is Jim Morales, and I'm captain of the guard here. Do you have any wilders with you, or is this aravel looted from dead ones?"

Yumi spoke. "Are wilders not allowed into Falcon's Bridge?" She asked.

"For the most part, no. Not since that episode five years ago, but I'd rather not talk about it." He crossed his arms. "However, the mayor leaves it to me to decide who gets into town or not. If you have wilders with you, I will decide if they can enter."

"We are travelling with a wilder, but she is injured and in need of a doctor." Odd explained. "She's inside of the aravel."

Jim and Jeremie entered the aravel, where Ulrich looked up at them. Aelita was asleep on the cot, though every now and then her breathing appeared pained. "By the gods! Is that…?" Jim rushed to Aelita's side. He examined her, and he exclaimed, "It is! That's Maya Tyron!"

Jeremie furrowed his brows. "What? No, that's Aelita Stone-Hopper. She's a wilder. Maya Tyron is a human name."

Jim glared at him." Maya Tyron was a close friend of my great-nephew, Murray. I saw her almost every day since her parents came back from their trip to Replika, though admittedly it has been five years since I last saw her. Regardless, how many elves do you know with pink hair?"

Ulrich looked at Jeremie. "Aelita did say that she didn't want to come here, and that I wouldn't like her anymore if we did."

Jim looked at Ulrich. "Her parents, Eleanor and Lowel Tyron, still live here with their other daughter, Milly. I'm sure they'll be very excited to see her again."

Jim escorted the Heroes into town and to an apartment building, despite Ulrich and Yumi's protests that they bring her first to a doctor. He pointed them to the third floor, and consoled Ulrich and Yumi that Lowel was a doctor and could help her. Unsure of what they would find when they reached the apartment they were headed for, the teenagers nervously climbed the stairs. Jeremie knocked on the door, and a human woman, probably in her late thirties, with long strawberry red hair answered. At first she seemed happy to receive visitors, but when she looked at Aelita, she covered her eyes. "Oh, for the love of Juno, please tell me that skinny, tanned thing with messy hair and ears exposed is not my daughter."


	17. Autumn 2

_Episode 2: the Outcast's Past_

29th of Ferventis

Aelita bolted up and immediately grabbed her ribs as she huffed in pain. It took a few moments of controlled, labored breathing before she remembered why. Boulders hurt, she recalled, before looking out of the window to see that either much time had passed and it was nightfall again, or that no time had passed and morning had never come. She struggled to pull herself out of her bed. _Her bed?_ She looked down to see the dusty white sheets from so long ago, and she started quaking in anticipation. Forcing herself out of bed and summoning Erahalam to give support, she limped over to the mirror near the door. It was as she thought—Aelita had returned to the apartment in Falcon's Bridge, and Eleanor's influence could already be seen. Her hair had been covered in a white bonnet, her facial markings covered with makeup and her traditional elven clothes had been swapped for a white blouse, a dark green skirt and a white apron, as well as a pair of light green shoes. Aelita leaned against the wall, kicked off her shoes and ripped the right sleeve off of her blouse to show her arm markings. She leaned against Erahalam again as she rubbed the makeup off her face and yanked the bonnet from her head.

The indignity of her state of dress corrected, the Outcast limped out of the bedroom, intending to flee Falcon's Bridge before the sun rose. She stopped when she saw Jeremie and Ulrich waiting at the table, blocking her exit. Jeremie seemed less than pleased, as did Ulrich, though the Mercenary's displeasure was aimed at the Wise Man. Aelita sighed as she looked down to her toes. "I guess you want some answers, huh?" She said as she sat down across from the boys.

"You 'guess' we want answers? You 'guess'?" Jeremie shouted, though he lowered his voice upon seeing her flinch. "When we arrived, the guard captain—Jim—he called you Maya Tyron and directed us to Lowel and Eleanor. When Eleanor answered the door, she recognized you? What's going on? Who are you?" His hands were shaking. Aelita prayed it was from the cold autumn air and not because of her.

"Enough, Jeremie." Ulrich said firmly.

Aelita sighed again, and she was silent for a long time. "This is difficult to explain. I thought I was ready, but I guess I wasn't." She looked up at Jeremie. "I am not Maya Tyron. Not anymore. Maya Tyron is the name of a girl who was stolen in the night and replaced by someone else. Maya Tyron is the name of an elf who tried far too hard to be something that she couldn't be, and was punished when she tried to make others see it too." Aelita looked back to her twitching fingers. "Maya Tyron is dead. I am still living, but barely."

Ulrich looked at Jeremie sharply, but then to Aelita. "Please, Kitten. Just… start at the beginning."

The Outcast looked away for a moment, but then she looked back to the boys. "I… guess it started in 4:91 East." She said.

Jeremie looked at her skeptically. "Unless I've missed something, you couldn't have been more than a baby at the time."

"Exactly." She said, and she half-smiled with a faint glimmer of hope in her green eyes. "And perhaps I should explain… why I left, and why I've done the things I have."

The Wise Man narrowed his eyes. "You had better."

His tone like daggers, she flinched and began. "This is how I understand it to have happened."

* * *

18th of Molioris, 4:91 East

Eleanor was young, only recently having reached her twenty-first birthday. It was a miracle that the baby had been born—she and Lowel had been married for four years now and her parents were beginning to wonder if she was infertile. But she held this blessed baby in her arms. She looked like Eleanor with her strawberry red hair and light green eyes, her features sharp and not altogether unpleasant. It was far too soon to know if baby Maya would keep looking like Eleanor, though she felt in her bones that Maya would grow to be the spitting image of her mother.

She held Maya high over her head and then brought her back close her chest, holding the baby with all the tender motherly love that she could possibly give. She danced over to the crib inside of the wagon she and Lowel were taking to Cortex. Then, she joined her husband, and they slept.

There was a ruckus near midnight, and Lowel woke to find two dark figures standing next to the crib. He shouted at them, and Eleanor slowly awoke. Lowel jumped and chased after the figures as they ran, though one turned and twisted the earth around Lowel's feet. He used his own magic to make the earth collapse, and while he was about to continue the chase, Eleanor screamed, and he rushed back to the wagon.

Eleanor had collapsed next to the crib, sobbing. Lowel looked into the crib and gasped. The figures had been elves, and they'd stolen their daughter and replaced her with an elven baby. But this baby was strange, not only in her heritage, but in the fact that she did not cry. She lay whimpering, and her large green eyes were filled with tears, but she was otherwise silent. "Those bitch-born knife ears!" Eleanor cursed, crying enough for her and the baby. "Why would they do this?" Lowel swore rather loudly, and he lifted the baby out of the crib. He carried her out of the wagon, and Eleanor stood to follow him. She gasped when her husband held the baby over the nearby river, and she yanked the elf-child from his hands. "What are you doing? You can't just kill her!"

"Can't I? The elves must learn that this will not be tolerated! This is the third child they've stolen this year, and it's only Molioris!" Lowel shouted, though the elf-child still would not cry.

Eleanor was holding the child, but not in the same way she'd held Maya. "Do you have any idea how bad we'll look if we show up in Cortex without a baby? My mother has been looking forward to this for months!"

"Oh? She'd rather see a knife-ear than hear that the elves stole our child?" Lowel questioned.

His wife glared at him. "Plenty of functioning families involve changelings, Lowel." She looked down at the whimpering elf-child. "Let's just… give it a shot. Please?"

Lowel stared at his wife for a moment, and he sighed. "Very well." Eleanor smiled, but there was still pain behind her eyes.

* * *

15th of Eluviesta, 5:03 Guardian

Maya Tyron, now ten years old, flinched as the sun shone in through her window. She sighed, as she had done every morning for what had felt like eternity. Maya pulled herself out of bed and dressed quickly then braided her long pink hair. She looked at her reflection and blew a strand of hair from her eyes before pulling the bonnet over her ears. She pulled her apron over her dress and started on her chores, sweeping before she started a fire to boil the water she would use in the tea. By the time Lowel, Eleanor and Milly had awoken, Maya had breakfast ready and she'd cleaned the kitchen.

Lowel started listing the other things she was to do that day, and she was only half-paying attention to him. Instead she was focusing on the singing birds outside of the apartment, and the clouds visible through the blooming branches. It looked like it might rain, she noted. "Maya, are you paying attention to me?" Lowel demanded.

"What? Oh, yes, Father." Maya lied, and she returned her attention to the window. Her parents entered the sitting room and Milly sat near the windowsill, looking outside and sadly at the chrysanthemum bud potted and placed on the windowsill. Milly had put it there several days earlier, but still it had not bloomed. Maya looked nervously to her parents before holding her hand out and summoning her magic. Lowel and Eleanor did not allow her to practice her magic at all, not even from the safety of their apartment, but she found ways to sneak practice, though admittedly in her six years of knowing about her skill she had not gotten any better with it.

Maya focused on the chrysanthemum, and she thought of it in bloom. Slowly, the bud began to open, and Milly sat up and smiled at her sister. Eleanor looked up, and Maya dropped her hand, which caused the flower to wilt. When her mother looked away, Maya focused on the flower again at Milly's encouragement. However, she put too much magic into it, and the roots shattered the pot. Maya flinched as her parents shouted at her for using her magic. Milly shrugged with an apologetic look on her face.

The humans left about an hour later, leaving Maya alone in the apartment. She dutifully completed her chores, and a pebble hit the window. Maya looked questioningly at the window, and she opened it. Outside, a dwarf with shoulder-length brown hair and peach fuzz stood outside, and he waved at her. He pointed over his shoulder to the carriage behind him. "Get in, salroka! We're going shopping!"

Maya smiled and shouted, "Murray!" She dropped her feather duster and rushed down the stairs. He held open the carriage door for her, and she curtsied before jumping inside. "So, are we really going shopping or am I just giving you advice on what clothes I think will impress Edwina?" Maya teased.

Murray laughed. "Advice, of course! Remember what your parents did last time you went shopping?" His tone was jocular, but the memory hurt. Maya had 'borrowed' money from the family collection to buy a doll—she'd never owned one, and it hadn't cost more than a few coppers—and Lowel had been very angry. He'd thrown it into the fire. "I'm sorry, Maya. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It wasn't your fault." Maya said flatly.

The friends were silent in the carriage until Murray looked up and presented her with a painting of three men—a human who looked like Ben, a minstrel in the Hunter's Meadhall, run by their friend Eva Skinner's mother, a dwarf who looked like a younger version of Murray's father, Chris and an elf. "An old friend of my father's is coming to town today. He and Ben used to travel with this wilder named Nico, before his clan called for him."

Maya grabbed the painting. "I've never met another elf before, not even a city elf. A wilder is coming to Falcon's Bridge?"

"Yeah, they're giving an outdoor concert for the Feast Day festival." Murray explained.

"That won't be for several months, at least."

"These things take time to plan."

Maya looked at Nico's face on the painting, and then she placed the painting next to her feet. "My parents will never let me meet him."

"Then don't ask!" Murray advised. "Nico and his sister, Edna, are coming to the Meadhall today to make plans for the festival. You can speak to them there."

"Murray… I don't know about this."

"Come on, salroka. All you've got to do is play him a song, and he'll be crazy about you."

Sighing, Maya agreed to meet with the elves. Murray ordered the carriage driver to take them to the Meadhall, where they waited for the wilders to arrive. Ben and Chris waved to the two as they began their next song. Ben and Chris often played together, and it always sounded beautiful. They were able to create a variety of auras, from excitement to complacency to patriotism, and Maya had learned everything she knew about music by watching and copying them. Her normally clumsy fingers were as elegant as swans on the strings of a lute.

Maya strummed on an imaginary lute as the doors to the Meadhall swung open. Two elves with brown hair entered, and they were clearly different than everyone else. They walked with a sort of swagger, and neither one of them wore shoes. The man wore a green jacket with strange patterns embroidered on the back, and the woman wore a long tan coat with a hood. On her back was a staff with a skull on the top, and Maya concluded the woman was a magician. The man hugged Ben and Chris, and he motioned to the woman behind him. Chris called his son forward, and Murray instructed Maya to stay put.

They spoke for a while, and the woman took her eyes away from the others to watch Maya with great interest. Soon, she sat next to her, and she smiled. "Andaran atish'an, da'len. Are… you Maya? The girl that Murray told Nico about in his letter?"

Maya nodded. Unable to tear her eyes away from the woman's face, Maya studied the patterns that seemed tattooed there. They were circular, making the woman look almost feral, though the gentle look never left her eyes. Maya trusted this woman, though she knew that it was dangerous to do so. "Are you Edna?"

"Yes, I am indeed Hahren Edna, the leader of the Aloten clan." The woman gestured to herself. She collected a lute from her brother and presented it to Maya. "Murray told me that you play music. Please, show me."

Maya nodded, and she began to pluck the strings, creating a simple and bubbly tune. Edna closed her eyes and absorbed the music, and when she'd picked up on the tune, she began to hum along with the lute. Murray tapped his foot like a metronome, and Eva stopped doing her chores around the Meadhall to listen to Maya play.

When she stopped, Edna opened her eyes and smiled at her. "You are very talented. Your parents must be proud."

Maya shook her head. "My parents don't let me practice music, or dancing, or magic. They say that invites demons into my head."

Edna's face twisted in confusion, and she said, "Music and dancing do not invite spirits of any kind, unless it is those of joy." She looked far away. "I can understand their reservations about magic. The People certainly have been… liberal with our deals with the spirits, but we have had magic for a long time, and most magicians understand which spirits to deal with and which not to. But an untrained magician is a worse threat to anyone than a blood magician could ever be."

Maya sighed. "I wish you could tell them that. They do not understand."

Edna considered this. "You cannot go without training, da'len. Has anyone shown you any magic?"

"I have taught myself some, though I am not very good. Just this morning I shattered a clay pot trying to make a flower bloom."

"I will train you in magic, da'len. My brother can train you in music. There is nothing to be afraid of in either world, you will see. With luck, maybe others will see, too."

"Are you using me to make the humans understand the wilders better?" Maya questioned.

"Of course not. But if it helps, I cannot be faulted." Edna smiled and added, "You won't hurt my feelings if you say no, da'len."

She looked at her shoes, and then back up to Edna. "Okay. But my parents cannot know about it."

"I shall not say a word."

* * *

23rd of Eluviesta

Maya had snuck out of her home that night to meet the elves in their camp. It was a six-minute walk out of town and into the forest, and she was surprised to find their land ships in a semicircle around the campfire. Edna had said the Aloten clan was small, and that most of the elves had not wished to visit a human town. There were about fifteen elves around the campfire, and Edna waved her over.

There was no magic lesson that night, Edna had said, nor would there be a music lesson. That night, she would be educated in a different aspect of elven life—ancient stories. There were children's stories, claims created within the clan, like Edna's infamous lobster story or the newer story about how a human woman was raised by the elves—a changeling just like Maya—and sent back into the human world to prove her worth, ending up marrying a young prince and creating a kingdom far, far away in the south.

But there were other stories, ancient stories dating back to the ancient kings of Elvhenan, and Maya found that these stories were much more compelling. Edna spoke of the deal with the Goblin King, and the children clutched their toys graciously while they looked lovingly at their mothers. Edna spoke of the destinies written in the stars, and of the ancient holidays long forgotten because of the human invasion.

Maya found herself wanting a life among the People. She learned that night that Edna's previous apprentice, a young boy, had been found kidnapped, tortured and killed by unknown assailants, and she was in need of a new one. Maya begged for Edna to accept her as the new apprentice.

Edna, surprisingly, did not seem overjoyed by this idea. "It isn't that I don't love you or enjoy your company, da'len, but even if you come with us willingly, your parents will claim that we kidnapped you. Furthermore, you haven't been confirmed, and your name is… not elven. Many of the People will not trust you, not even among the Aloten clan."

"I can change my name! I can become confirmed! Please, hahren, I want to be an elf, not a slave or the obedient housewife of an abusive husband!" Maya begged.

Edna looked into Maya's eyes. There was such desire, such hunger for belonging that she could not say no. "When is your name day, da'len?"

"My parents say it is the 18th of Molioris."

Edna rubbed her chin. "Bloomingtide, eh? Very well. On the 18th of Bloomingtide, I will confirm you. You shall be given a proper elven name and I will teach you the Vir Tanadahl. You will be a bit late, but your eagerness to learn may give you a leg up."

"Thank you, hahren!" Maya breathed, embracing the elf.

Edna smiled and pushed Maya's hair from her face. "No, da'len. If you are to be one of us, you shall say 'ma serannas' when showing gratitude."

"Ma serannas!" Maya laughed into Edna's arms.

* * *

18th of Molioris

Confirmation was a long process. Maya had to repeat many phrases and light candles while reciting the Vir Tanadahl: "_Vir Assan; fly straight and do not waver. Vir Bor'assan; bend but never break. Vir Adahlen; together we are stronger than the one. We are the last of the elvhenan, and never again shall we submit._" That wasn't even the painful part. The painful part was the tattooing of the symbol of the Creation Father on her back—Edna had said this was a choice and not every elf did it, but Maya had wanted it done. She did not regret this decision, only that she had refused the pain killing potion her hahren had offered. The symbol was a small one, a pale green archaic hawk holding a rose in its claws. That evening, Maya went through a process that few others had to—the renaming ceremony.

It was that night Maya had unofficially changed her name from Maya Tyron to Aelita Durgenbora, or in the human lands, Stone-Hopper. She still answered to Maya around her family, and she never told them about her confirmation or her plan to run away with the Aloten clan.

* * *

4th of Matrinalis

Edna demonstrated to Aelita the secrets of the Creator's Sight. This was not something Maya would have needed, but Aelita found it very useful. It had taken Edna an hour to coax Aelita back to her after she'd discovered the forest had accepted her. "Aelita, look around you. What do you see? What do you hear?"

Aelita did as she was instructed. "I see the trees, and I see the sky. I hear the birds chirping, and I think I hear Nico playing a song."

"Good. Now, close your eyes and open your heart to the Garden. What do you feel?"

She looked strangely at her hahren, but she obeyed. "I feel… the heartbeat of the trees. And… I feel their roots twisting under my feet."

Edna smiled, but it was weak. Aelita felt in her heart that she'd disappointed her. "As you get used to the Creator's Sight, you will come to understand better how to use this ability, and it will grow stronger." Aelita hung her head in shame, feeling like a newborn child in her ineptitude. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, da'len. Your parents have treated you like a human for so long, this sense has grown dull. Imagine only eating porridge your entire life. How dull would your tongue be?"

Aelita sighed. "That analogy works wonderfully until you eat something amazing, like… I don't know… cocoa imported from the south."

"Don't overthink it." Edna said flatly. Suddenly she stopped, and she asked, "Did you hear that?"

Aelita curled up her nose. "No,"

"But I did. Come; follow me." Edna and Aelita raced through the forest, the novelty of the Creator's Sight distracting the younger elf from paying attention to where she was running. She almost ran over Edna, who had stopped to examine one of the clan's hunters. He'd been badly wounded, and judging by the patterns of the wounds, Edna could only guess that magistrates had been sent to warn the elves that their presence was unwanted. "Elgar'nan, if we don't do something quickly, he'll die." Edna cursed.

"You have magic, don't you? Use that!" Aelita said, motioning to the hunter.

Edna shook her head and then took her staff, Erahalam, from her back. She placed the skull on the hunter's forehead, and a bright flash blinded all three of the elves. When Aelita opened her eyes, the hunter was healed of all his wounds, and he stood, complaining only that he was stiff. Edna instructed him to return to camp, but to pace himself. Then, she looked to Aelita and smiled. "Come, da'len. We still have much to do before you must return to the apartment."

* * *

19th of Matrinalis

Aelita played a complex tune on the lute, her fingers a blur as they plucked the strings. When she finished, she smiled at Nico, who had been more willing to show her the ancient songs after she joined the clan officially. After Aelita had finished her song, Nico asked her to put the lute down. "Edna asked me to teach you a new song, one that will befit you once you have taken her place as Hahren."

She smiled and said, "Oh, good! What kind of song is it?"

Nico didn't smile back. "It isn't a happy song, da'len. It's beautiful, but not happy." He struggled to explain it. "Are you aware of how it seems the heroes in fairy tales seem immortal?"

She flushed and looked to her feet, which were bare when she was outside of the city, just like how she let her hair fly out of their braids in the woods. "Um… my parents never let me 'indulge' in 'such idle fantasies.'"

He frowned, but he said, "I should have expected that answer." He rubbed his temple. "You see… a long time ago, in the days of Elvhenan, the elves were immortal, and when the elders grew weary of life, they entered a time called Uthenera. The elves are no longer immortal, and the song sung then is now used for funerals."

Aelita cocked her head. "You're teaching me funeral rites?"

"Yes. It is important that you know them. They're the same for drow and surface elves, and it isn't uncommon for city elves to ask the Hahren of a clan to perform funeral rites on important members of their society." Nico stood, and he sang the elven eulogy. It was a beautiful sad song, and Aelita struggled on the elven words, her tongue not yet versed. Nico was patient, and he helped her sound out the words. He wrote them phonetically out in dirt, though it was through persistence that Aelita memorized the melody. "The People have learned to live with much sadness. But you have spoken the Vir Tanadahl, and you know that there is no great challenge that we cannot overcome."

* * *

8th of Solis

It was three days before the Feast Day festival was to begin, and Lowel Tyron had discovered Aelita's secret. He'd dragged her to the Knight Templar, who saw the mark of the Creator on her back as a sign of evil seeded within the youth of Falcon's Bridge. Thomas Vincent pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes. "Those damned knife ears. I should've known letting them into Falcon's Bridge was a bad idea. They always poison those too stupid to resist with words of deception and lies."

"I want to know just why you thought it a good idea to turn your back on your family in exchange for those savages!"

Aelita pulled on her father's grip, and she struggled to break free of his grasp. "Those 'savages' have been better family to me than you ever have! At least they treat me like one of their own!" Aelita yanked her arm away and began to walk backwards away from Lowel. "And now I am one of them! I am my own person now! You can't control me, Father!"

Lowel stormed up to her, and she screamed as he pulled on her braids to drag her across the room. "You listen to me, you ungrateful little bitch, you'll never have a place anywhere! You think those crazy heathens will hesitate to sacrifice you to their god in some crazy ritual? You think they won't sell you into slavery the first chance they get? You don't belong anywhere! You're an outcast, a freak!"

Aelita's eyes filled with tears, but she stood firm in the presence of her father. "I'd rather die at the hands of the People than live one more second as your slave!"

"Enough!" Thomas Vincent shouted. He walked around his desk. "There may be a chance to save your daughter from the claws of evil, Tyron. Perhaps we should show her what happens to heathen witches that defy everything sacred."

Aelita looked up at him. "What are you planning?"

Thomas Vincent attached his sword to his side and pulled his helmet on over his spectacles. "We shall arrest Edna the Witch. This crime of corruption will not go unpunished." He glared at Aelita. "And Maya, you know what we do to witches."

She felt her jaw hit the floor. They planned to put Edna to the stake! "No! I won't let you do this!" Aelita said firmly, and she rushed over to the window. Lowel and Thomas Vincent ran after her, but she'd already jumped. She transformed into an owl, and she flew as swiftly as she could to the campsite. Edna greeted her with a smile, like always, but when Aelita transformed back and the hahren caught sight of her panicked expression, her smile vanished. "Knight Templar Thomas Vincent plans to burn you. He called you a witch!"

"What? I know that T.V hates everyone not of Lyoko, but he has no reason to try me for witchcraft." Edna stated.

Aelita looked at her feet. "Father found out about my confirmation. He dragged me to his office and I heard it there. It sounded like to me that he's been looking forward to something like this for a long, long time!"

Nico spat at the earth. "That snake! I'll cut his throat out myself!"

Edna shook her head. "No, Nico. This is no time for violence. Tell the others to pack up and leave. I see no other way to resolve this mess."

"What about you, sister?" Nico asked.

"I will stay. Perhaps my arrest will give you time to escape."

Nico shook his head. "No! We will not leave you!"

Aelita nodded. "Neither will I. Vir Adahlen; together we are stronger than the one."

Edna smiled at her student. "Your devotion honors me, da'len." Her smile vanished once more, and she directed Aelita into her aravel. She removed Erahalam from her back and presented it to Aelita with great respect. "My time in the Garden has reached its end. Carry my staff now, Aelita Durgenbora, for you will take my place as Hahren."

Aelita refused. "No! You will survive! I am not ready!"

Edna took her tiny hands and placed them on the staff. "Take Erahalam. The bond is yours now. Be wise, da'len, and do whatever it takes to survive."

Not half an hour later did the magistrates arrive, and they dragged Edna away in chains. Lowel forced Aelita back into the apartment, and from her bedroom window, she could see the magistrates' oubliette.

* * *

18th of Solis

"On the count of witchcraft, how do you plea?" Thomas Vincent asked. The Feast Day festival had been canceled, and instead they used the stage as a place of public execution. Edna was tied to the wooden stake, her hands bound and a constant shield of magic-negating energy prevented her escape. Aelita was in chains in the back of the audience, and one of the magistrates lifted her up onto his shoulders so she could witness the entire ordeal.

Edna stared Thomas Vincent in the eyes. "I am not a witch," She said flatly, resisting the urge to spit in his face.

Thomas Vincent scoffed and spun around, waving her off. "Then the die is cast and you shall commit to the flame." He said, and he lit the hay at her feet.

Aelita covered her eyes for a while, unable to watch as the flames began to lick at the hem of Edna's plain white tunic. She suddenly became furious, filled with a rage that no dragon could match. The changeling kicked the magistrate binding her in the neck, and she jumped off of his shoulders. She summoned lightning and fired it at Thomas Vincent, who dodged it and glared at her. She spun a water spell around her hands, but before she could complete it, the Knight Templar negated the magic. Aelita screamed in pain, and she fell to her knees, sobbing. "Send her to the oubliette! Tonight she hangs!" T.V shouted, and Eleanor jumped onstage.

"No! Please, Maya is just a stupid kid! She doesn't know any better!" Eleanor pleaded, ignoring the red-hot flames radiating heat.

Murray jumped out of the crowd and raced towards Aelita. "She's not a witch! You cannot hang her without a trial!" He declared, drawing his broadsword from his back.

T.V looked at the dwarf without amusement in his eyes. "Can I not? Perhaps you would like to hang with her." Thomas Vincent ordered the magistrates to arrest them both. Murray fought to protect himself and Aelita, incapacitated from T.V's silencing. But they were too numerous, and he was only fifteen. He surrendered, and T.V looked to Eleanor. "I will honor your request. Your… daughter will not hang. It is too bad the boy's father was arrested for insurrection. I cannot make that same promise for him."

* * *

23rd of Solis

Aelita had spent five days in the Oubliette, the only way to know how long time had passed was counting the minutes. She told herself the stories of Elvhenan, and she wondered why this had happened. The chains on her ankles felt like heavy bricks, and she'd studied the negating wards carved into the steel. She heard murmurs as the magistrates guarding her spoke of an elven uprising after Edna's execution. She was horrified to learn that there had been no survivors, and to prevent a future attack, T.V had ordered the deaths of the remaining elves, even the children. She'd cried for hours after that, knowing it was her own stupidity that had caused this mess. Edna had warned her that the humans would not like her joining her people, hadn't she? Aelita ran out of tears, and she coughed with a dry throat. "Please, I want some water." She croaked out, trying to gather the attention of the guards. She tried speaking louder, her voice weak and hoarse, "I haven't had anything to eat or drink since I arrived, please, may I just have some water?"

They said nothing and Aelita curled up in the corner where she waited for one of the Guides to claim her soul. But a Guide did not arrive, rather a spirit that had sensed her hunger and her pain. It was a creepy looking thing, with many tentacles and a dome that showed electrical currents running through it. Aelita backed away from it, but it did not attack her. It spoke. "Da'len elvhenan," It said, a voice squeaky and painful, "Freedom is in your blood."

Aelita looked at the spirit in confusion. "What?" She asked.

The spirit spoke again. "You wish to be free? You have the power to be free and to free a hundred more just like you flowing through you." A sudden scream that sounded like Murray shattered what little calm there had been. "It isn't too late to save him. Find the blood and find your freedom."

Aelita looked at the spirit hesitantly, but when Murray's scream broke the silence again, she nodded. She rubbed her open palm against the rough rocks until her skin broke, and then she kept rubbing until the bleeding continued. The spirit cackled, and it wrapped her with its tentacles, gifting her with the arcane knowledge of forbidden magics. Aelita honed in on the bond Edna had told her she'd established with Erahalam, and the staff pierced her stomach.

She coughed, but she pulled the staff out of her body. Aelita forced her magic against the cell door, slamming it against the wall with such force that it shattered the skull of one of the guards. The other charged her, but she grabbed hold of his blood. It began to boil, and he fell to the ground, screaming as he died. Aelita jumped over his corpse and rushed to find an exit, andthen she looked on the upper levels to find Murray.

When she found him, he was bloody and bruised and he didn't appear to be breathing. Aelita gasped, and she looked to the skull on Erahalam. She remembered Edna saving the hunter, and she placed the skull on Murray's forehead.

The room filled with a vile red light, much different than the pure white light that had healed the hunter. She was forced back, losing her grip on Erahalam as she fell to the stone floor. When she sat up, Murray's body was no more than a skeleton. She shrieked, and she started sobbing.

Inside of her, and yet coming from the direction of Erahalam, she could've sworn she heard Murray shout for her to run. So she grabbed the staff, and she ran. Thinking of nowhere she could run that would be safe; she fled to the Aloten campsite. Nothing was left there but the smell of death and fire. She sang the dirge of the dead before she kept running, her mind set on fleeing to Arlathan.

* * *

29th of Ferventis, 5:08 Guardian

Now that she had finished her story Ulrich comforted her. Jeremie wanted to as well, but anything that came from his mouth would be insufficient. She remembered clearly the sight of Murray's skeleton, and her mind filled with flashes of Edna's burning corpse. Five years later and she still hadn't convinced herself that it wasn't her fault.

Ulrich looked up to Jeremie with an angry glare, and he said, "So long as we're being open and honest here, Belpois, maybe you should tell Aelita what you did over your summer vacation."

"I'm not sure now is the best time." Jeremie said, a humorless laugh escaping his lips.

"Why not? Is there ever a good time for these things?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita looked to Jeremie, her large green eyes fixated on him. "Tell me what, Jeremie? What did you do?"

Jeremie sighed, and he looked down to the golden band he wore on his left ring finger. "Aelita," He said as he looked up at her, "I accepted Laura's wedding proposal. I'm getting married."

There was no time to explain, not that he could have. Aelita had transformed into an owl and she'd flown out the window, though even in this form, it was obvious she was still hurt.


	18. Autumn 3

_Episode 3: Fanning the Flames_

30th of Ferventis

Ulrich summarized Aelita's story to Yumi the next morning, and she cringed several times. "Poor Aelita. That must have been horrible."

The Mercenary agreed. "Anyway, we'll probably be leaving in a few days. I heard Jeremie say that he wants to get out of Thomas Vincent's district as soon as possible."

"Did he say if we were reinstating Aelita in our group?" Yumi asked, leaning against the aravel. She crossed her arms, and Ulrich did the same.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I hope that he will, or we may have to smuggle her out of Falcon's Bridge." He laughed, and Yumi giggled in spite of herself. Ulrich took a step closer to the Colonist. "Listen, I think the best thing we can do is try to throw the magistrates off our tails. So far, none of them have approached us, but that won't last long. They must've gotten our description from a messenger of some sort. I'll bet that if we destroy the message, we may stall them."

Yumi seemed hesitant. "I don't know, Ulrich. Don't you think that T.V may have already read the report? I mean, he sent magistrates after us."

He laughed. "And he memorized it?" He looked away and continued, "Listen, I don't much care if he's memorized it or not. Destroying the files will help get him off our backs. And while we're at it, we may want to destroy files on Maya Tyron. He'll remember Aelita's face, but it may help."

"What makes you think that I want anything to do with this?" Yumi demanded.

"Yumi, I need your help. You can get into the outpost easily with the help of your mask, and I certainly can't ask Jeremie to help me." Ulrich leaned against the aravel, and he turned his attention back to her.

"You two still aren't speaking?"

"You didn't see Aelita's face before she flew away. You'd be mad at him too."

Yumi looked down at her toes. "I—I'm not sure about this, Ulrich."

"I'll watch the entrance, and you sneak in and get the files. It'll be easy." He said, and then he smirked. "That is, unless you're scarred…"

She looked up and stared into his eyes. He wore a boyish grin, one that had gotten her into trouble countless times when they were younger. And there it was again, about to get her into more trouble. "Oh, fine! But you owe me one, Ulrich."

* * *

After flying away from Jeremie and Ulrich, Aelita spent the rest of the night in the woods trying to comprehend what had gone on during her absence. It had only been two weeks and yet the entire group dynamic had changed. Ulrich and Jeremie had been close friends, now, they barely spoke. Jeremie had been angry at Laura and now they were to be married. How had this happened?

Against the morning's light, Aelita snuck back into Falcon's Bridge, her hood pulled over her head to hide her face. She'd changed since she'd last been there—she'd lost weight, thus losing her roundish features in turn for thinner ones, her hair was short and almost always a mess, and she was much taller—though that was expected; it had been five years. Nevertheless she moved through back alleys, carefully and quickly darting between the deep shadows to avoid the magistrates that patrolled the outer rims of the city.

The effort took its toll on her and, out of breath and in pain, she stopped and leaned against the wall of an alley. She slid down and buried her face in her arms before pushing her bangs from her face. The Outcast looked up to the sky and watched for rabbits and hawks, or anything that might have signaled that things were getting better.

She returned to earth when she heard someone coming her way, and she pushed up against the wall in case they attacked. Aelita relaxed slightly when she saw that it was William, but she still felt tension, knowing that the Vanguard was a lackey of Laura's. Mustering her courage, she spoke. "William, can I ask you something?"

William stopped and looked around, as if he hadn't seen her. When he spotted her, he crossed his arms, clearly not pleased at the sight of her. "I suppose I can't stop you, can I?"

Aelita looked down at her toes, and then back up. "When did Jeremie accept Laura's proposal? How long did he wait?"

He rolled his eyes. "He didn't."

"What?"

"He didn't wait. He accepted my lady's proposal almost as soon as he returned to camp."

She shook her head and pushed her bangs out of her face again, this time knocking her hood off of her head. "How did this happen?" She asked, and William began to walk again. She tried reaching out to him, to reestablish what little relationship they'd had before. "You feel it too, don't you? To have people judge you for what you are, not what you've done or what you say?"

William turned, his ashen skin almost ebony in the shadow. His red eyes were embers in the alley. "What are you saying?"

"We're two of a kind. I wanted to learn about my culture, to be among my people. You wanted to make the dark elves accepted in a culture that doesn't care about them. I was sent away because of the magic that I use. People put up barriers around you because of your heritage. Doesn't it bother you?"

William rushed towards her, and startled, Aelita backed up against the wall. He was dangerously close to her, and the anger in his eyes made her feel very small. "Yet I made no deal with a demon to accomplish my goal!" He shouted, and Aelita was afraid that he would attack her. "You had a life! You had a family! And yet you abandoned all of it to chase ghosts!"

"That's not true! You have no idea what I went through!" Aelita shouted, standing up on her toes to get closer to his face.

"Believe what you like. Just know this—we are nothing alike, witch. Don't even begin to think that we are." William stood intimidatingly over her for a few moments more before he turned and stormed off. Aelita watched him as he left, slowly succumbing to the pain in her chest as she struggled to catch her breath from shouting. She slid down against the wall before burying her head again.

* * *

Two newly initiated magistrates stood silently outside the door to the outpost. Their shift had just started, and they had taken on the most boring position of the day. To pass the time, the magistrate on the left asked, "Hey, man, did Billy and the others ever come back from their patrol the other night?"

The magistrate shrugged. "Fuck Billy. Billy's dead."

They saw a boy approaching, and they drew their swords. Lefty spoke up. "No civilians past this point without official business."

The boy drew his katanna and egged them forward. "I have official business—kicking your ass."

Lefty looked at his partner. "We're under attack!"

"I'm not an idiot! I could've figured that out for myself!" Righty shouted. The magistrates charged the boy, who took advantage of their clumsiness and merely stepped out of the way. He kicked Lefty's feet out from under him and knocked the helmet off. Then he sliced off the magistrates head while Righty turned and tried to attack the boy from behind. A girl leapt from a nearby tree and landed on Righty's shoulders. She used one of her throwing knives to slice his throat.

Ulrich sheathed his blade and hid the bodies in the bushes after stripping Lefty, who was closer to him in size. He donned the armor and hid his face under the helm. "I'll stay here and keep watch. Be sure you get out alive with the information that we need."

Yumi nodded as she took a key from Righty's belt. She unlocked the door and tied the rabbit mask behind her ears, causing her to vanish from view. Ulrich counted a few seconds then closed the door behind her. Now, all he could do was wait.

* * *

Dhaune knocked on the door to Xana's bedchambers, and she entered to find two slaves fixing the Matron's hair. "Matron Mother?" Dhaune said quietly before approaching. She looked to the Eluvian against the wall. She always hated how the ancient mirrors never reflected anything—it was always unnerving. "Matron Mother, I've been watching the Heroes. They've taken refuge in Falcon's Bridge."

Xana sighed, and after deciding that the slaves had done an adequate job, she ordered them to go. "What are you proposing?"

"The Veil is very thin there. You could easily summon spirits and send them there." She suggested. "I also have some… other ideas, if you'd like to hear them." Dhaune pressed her hands together, but she didn't back down from Xana's stare.

She held her head back and smiled. "I'm listening, Dhaune. Let's hear it."

* * *

Yumi had trouble getting used to invisibility. She could not see her feet as she was walking, and therefore had major issues when climbing the stairs. She had barely gotten used to climbing stairs without the usual visual cues when the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps moving downwards cased a momentary sense of panic. Thinking quickly she pressed herself against the sidewall of the stairs and edged forwards until she came to a corner created by the winding stairs. There she waited, with knives clenched in her hands ready to strike if she was discovered.

The magistrates passed by, none the wiser, speaking of the troubles with Replika and the dark elves. Yumi waited until their voices faded away before jumping back onto the stairs. She tiptoed up several more flights before coming to the top floor. A guard stood outside, his sword at the ready and his eyes fixated towards the stairs. Yumi panicked for a moment, believing he could see her, but he did not move, and she relaxed. Slowly she moved around the guard, careful to not make a sound.

The Colonist regarded the door, and she cursed under her breath when she saw that it was closed. The magistrate returned, apparently hearing her. She threw kunai at him, striking him in the neck, nose and forehead. He stumbled back, and though he was clearly dead—or at least dying—Yumi slammed her bo staff into his face, lodging the kunai in his nose so far in that she had no hope of recovering it. She unlocked the door with the key around the magistrate's neck.

Closing the door behind her, Yumi removed her mask and tucked it into her obi. She was taken aback as she saw her hand. It was translucent, and she could see her bones before opacity returned to her skin.

She searched the desk in the center of the room for recent reports. Finding nothing, she dug through the drawers. She came across a letter written in strange symbols attached to a satchel of gold. She slipped the letter into her obi, hoping to have Jeremie or Aelita translate it later. Next she found a file written in a leather notebook with a sketch of an elf girl and a caption reading 'Maya Tyron.' Yumi grabbed the book. Finally, she searched through letters piled near the window, and found one with their descriptions written. She tucked this letter into the book and moved towards the door while struggling to attach the mask to her face.

She heard a gasp as someone discovered the corpse outside the door. Dropping the book she attached the mask quickly then bent down to retrieve the book. She managed to grab the book and stand up before the door opened. "There is someone in here!" A man with short brown hair shouted, pushing his spectacles up his nose. Yumi concluded that he was T.V. She snuck over to the wall and slid against it as T.V searched for her.

He threw open the wardrobe and tore at the curtains on the west wall. Yumi took his paranoia as a gift and sprinted out of the office.


	19. Autumn 4

_Episode 4: Dusk and Dhaune_

1st of Parvulis

As Ulrich took a match to the report and the book found in T.V's office, Yumi gave the letter written in the strange symbols to Jeremie. He read over them, and he nodded. "Yes, these are dwarven runes, and I recognize this word—amgarrak. It means victory. Where did you get this?"

Yumi was hesitant to admit it, but Ulrich held no shame. "From the desk of Thomas Vincent,"

Jeremie recoiled. "What? You broke into the magistrate outpost?!"

"Unlike you, I was not content simply waiting for him to kill us! At least we took action!" Ulrich shouted. "If you want to go back and apologize for our initiative, be my guest. I hope they throw you in the same cell they threw Aelita in!"

Yumi stepped in between them. "Boys, stop!" She said, and she looked to Jeremie. "The letter was attached to a satchel of gold. What could that mean?"

"I won't know until I've translated the letter, but it could be a donation from a private dwarven investor. There are quite a few dwarves in Falcon's Bridge." He shook his head, and he added, "But I can't imagine why even a dwarven investor would send a letter written in dwarven runes and not the Common."

Ulrich crossed his arms and leaned against the aravel. "Victory, dwarven runes, a satchel of gold and a corrupt magistrate. This does not bode well for our good friend T.V."

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions until I have all of the facts." The Wise Man said as he entered the aravel.

Ulrich glared. "Yeah, because he deserves the benefit of your doubt so much more than Aelita did."

Jeremie stared back angrily and opened his mouth to argue.

"BOYS!" Yumi yelled before they could start yet another fight.

* * *

Aelita stood in the street and looked at the Hunter's Meadhall. It had all started there, she recalled, remembering Edna's voice and her gentle guiding hands. Aelita put her hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. Inside, it was exactly the same as it had always been—the low ceiling and the dark wood all around. There were chandeliers spaced at intervals along the ceiling and a fire pit in the center of the room. Aelita made her way to the seat where she'd first seen Edna.

She closed her eyes and remembered her beating heart, the joy she'd felt at her first successful complex spell and the elation of navigating the forest without thinking. She remembered the pain of the confirmation process, and that itching that didn't go away for many days. She pushed her toes and fingers closer to the fire, remembering the sense of belonging that had filled her heart when she was with the elves. For a moment, she convinced herself that Edna was still alive—that she would wake up and everything from the spirit to the execution to her false human family and her enslavement had been a bad dream. That Edna would scold her for not listening. Then they would move on, and everything would be right again.

But Aelita opened her eyes and found she was still in the Meadhall, surrounded by people who cared nothing for her or her story. She pulled her hands and feet closer, and she covered her eyes.

"…Maya?" A feminine voice behind her asked.

"I answer to no name but my own," Aelita said as firmly as she could, though her voice shook with anger and shame. The owner of the voice pulled off her hood, revealing Aelita's pink hair. The Outcast jumped up and pushed the owner of the voice away before pulling the hood back over her head. The owner was a blonde human girl, her hair short and her eyes a weak tint of blue. Aelita's eyes widened as she recognized the girl. "…Eva?"

Eva Skinner put her hands on her hips. "You have some nerve showing your face in this town." She hissed, her fingers twitching near the dagger on her belt. Eva wore a plain set of tavern clothes, heavy and brown like the arriving autumn leaves covered in a dirty white apron. "You ruined everything!"

"I didn't do anything, Eva! If you want the true culprit, look to Thomas Vincent!" Aelita said, her voice getting louder.

"The Knight-Templar was only doing his job!" Eva argued. She took a step forward so that she was right in Aelita's face. "You ruined a lot of people's lives. Did you know that Chris never returned from prison? He was only supposed to be there for a few days until after the execution, but when Ben went to collect him, they said that he'd been moved to a prison out of the district!"

"That was not my fault! Chris stood up for the truth! He knew Edna was not a blood magician!"

Eva laughed bitterly. "Oh, but you are!" Her tone became sickly sweet. "Did Murray volunteer to have his skeleton picked clean, or did the demon teach you that?"

Aelita remembered the skeleton, and she looked down at her toes. "I… I didn't mean to do that." She said weakly. "It… it was an accident."

"An accident? An _accident?!_ You killed our best friend on _accident?!_" The tavern wench shouted. "You're a murderer and a liar! What did your little pet teach you? What did he teach you, witch?!"

She would no longer be silent. "I. AM. NOT! A! _WITCH!_" She struck Eva, who drew her dagger and slashed at the elf. Aelita pounced on her former friend, clawing like a rabid animal at her face. There was screaming and a gathering crowd, but she barely noticed.

Aelita only let up when she realized that she'd knocked Eva unconscious. At that point she jumped up and looked at her bloody fingers, her hands shaking. Quiet rumblings drew her attention and she scanned the crowd, which had formed a circle around the fight and was now beginning to press in on her. Surrounded by unfriendly faces, she bolted, pushing, shoving and threatening her way through the patrons until she had a clear path to the door. She ran out of the Meadhall, unable to hide her tears any longer.

She hid under the uplifted roots of a tree outside the village, sobbing uncontrollably. Everything was wrong. She heard footsteps, and she found Jeremie and Laura standing near the tree. She knew he was getting married to the Fair, but at that moment she didn't care any longer. She ran into his arms and cried into his shirt, holding onto it with a death grip. He seemed surprised, but he didn't push her away.

It was Laura who dragged them back to reality. "Listen, for some reason Jeremie thinks that you need to hear this new development. We're headed back to the aravel." She said flatly as Jeremie gently pushed Aelita out of his arms.

Jeremie offered what little kindness he could. "Do you need a minute?"

Aelita shook her head. "No. We have too much to do for me to sit here bawling."

They walked together to the aravel, though Aelita walked farther away from the fiancées than she would have otherwise. Laura hooked her arm in Jeremie's and pulled him closer to her, intertwining their fingers. He stood between the two girls, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. This would only grow to something worse, but he felt powerless to stop it.

Ulrich watched their approach to camp, standing up when he saw that Aelita's face had been stained with blood. "Gods above! Aelita, what happened?" He asked as he helped her to sit around the fire.

She shook her head. "I don't know anymore."

Odd questioned her. "You don't know what happened that caused you to have blood on your face and fingers? I would remember something like that."

Yumi slapped his arm. "Quiet, Odd."

Jeremie cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, "I translated the runes on the letter that Yumi gave to me. It didn't involve us, per se, but…"

Laura encouraged him. "Go on, love. What did it say?"

"…Knight Templar Thomas Vincent has been approached by Xana to ally himself with her war effort." Jeremie finished, crossing his arms.

William raised his eyebrows. "What? That's treason."

Aelita scoffed. "I can't imagine treason is the least thing he is capable of."

Yumi crossed her arms. "If this is the case, we should bring the translated letter to the mayor and pack up as soon as we can."

Laura agreed. "If T.V is a traitor, he won't get away with it. The citizens of Lyoko will not stand for it."

There was a large crash behind them, and they turned. A column of smoke appeared in the direction of Falcon's Bridge. They heard the familiar sound of constructs moving and firing lasers. "Looks like our escape will have to wait. We've got bigger problems." William said as the Heroes drew their weapons and charged towards the city.

* * *

Dhaune and about two hundred constructs were materialized on the northern border of Falcon's Bridge. She summoned a fire in her hands, and she used it to set fire to a tree next to her. Then, she ordered one of the monsters to chop down the tree. It fell onto a building, demolishing the house. She took a deep breath as she used a dark blue ribbon to tie back her hair. "This is your first solitary assignment, Dhaune. Don't blow it." She told herself as she drew her sword. "Attack!"

* * *

About twenty minutes after dusk had fallen, Falcon's Bridge was almost completely engulfed in flame and William was having flashbacks to Capital Lyoko. He and Laura were directing citizens towards the exit, hoping to help as many as they could to safety. They spotted Lowel and Milly leaving the city, but Eleanor didn't seem to be with them. The magistrates and the city guardsmen were fighting alongside the other Heroes, who had vanished from sight. A small group of constructs nearly struck Laura, though William blocked the laser just in time. "There's no end to them!" Laura shouted over the cacophony of screams and embers.

William looked up and saw an elf approaching in leather armor, her hair tied back. He put his hand on Laura's shoulder, signaling her to stay back, then he approached the stranger only to see she wasn't so foreign after all. "Dhaune!" He cried out. Dhaune's smug expression did not change, but she taunted him before rushing off into the burning city. "Stay here and guide the citizens! I'm going after Dhaune!"

Laura started to run after him. "Wait! What if something were to happen to you?"

"I'll be fine! Don't worry about me!" William shouted.

She sighed, muttering "The more he says that, the more I begin to worry." Nevertheless, she turned back towards the gate and continued guiding the citizens out of the city, offering advice and protection when needed.

* * *

Aelita was guarding the bridge, taking on constructs from afar when possible. Summoning a great portion of her magic, she tried to create a rainstorm, but the result was snow. She was greatly confused and stared at it for quite a while in disbelief, but she snapped back to reality when a magistrate grabbed her arm. "You're wanted by the law! You're coming with me!" The magistrate declared.

She motioned towards the city. "Don't you see this? You're not that blind, are you? This should be your main priority!"

But there was no use in talking sense into the magistrate. She may not have been able to tell if he was doing his job or if Xana had paid him off, but he wasn't going to let her go. "If you don't come willingly, I have no qualms about killing you."

She shook her head disbelievingly and slammed Murray the Skull between the man's legs. Using a bit of magic, the steel shattered and he screamed an octave higher than he normally would have as he fell to the ground. She knocked his helmet off and, using the blade on the end of Erahalam, stabbed her foe in the eye. Aelita took a deep breath in and the man's life-energy crawled up her staff. Using this energy she healed her broken bones, since she'd suffered too long from the pain. "I knew it. T.V was right about blood magicians." A girl behind her said.

Aelita sighed. "You'll never understand me, Eva. I'm beginning to think you never did." She said sadly as she turned, sheathing Erahalam to give Eva a chance to stand down.

Eva placed her hands on her hips, her face covered in bandages from Aelita's rage. "We agree at last," She hissed. "You've brought evil onto yourself and everyone around you. I pity you."

"I did what I had to do to survive!" Aelita shouted. "I have not willingly dragged others into my choices! Murray was the exception but you have to believe me when I say that I regret it and want to change it—but you don't understand."

"You're right. I don't. As far as I'm concerned, you should have died in that hole, not Murray."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Aelita hissed, "but I did what I thought was right—"

Eva interrupted her. "You might have done just that." She said, her voice filled with venom and warning. "I suppose now I'll have to do the same."

Aelita prepared to attack Eva, but she made no attempt to kill the Outcast. Rather, the tavern wench knocked passed her and raided the body of the dead magistrate. She changed in the bushes, coming out in full armor. She gazed at her former friend for a long while before turning and headed in the direction of Kadic.

* * *

William had chased Dhaune through the city streets, coming now to an alley near the northern border. Dhaune faced the brick wall, though she turned when William approached her. "Nowhere left to run, bitch," William said, stalking closer to her.

Dhaune cackled. "Who's running?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders. William furrowed his brows, and a stone wall closed off the alley. "I'm just getting started."

William charged her, and she side-stepped out of his path. He stopped with effort, turned and slashed at her as quickly as his body and bulky sword allowed. Dhaune was expecting that and she was ready, ducking under the arc of his weapon and kicking him the shin. He stumbled back, his sword dragging on the ground for a moment before he used it to stand upright. The pain in his knee flared though he fought it back without showing anything outwardly. He was not going to give her the satisfaction.

Instead he attacked again, forcing Dhaune into a long battle. She dodged and where she couldn't she parried or deflected his attacks. On it went, Dhaune suffering only light wounds while William took no damage at all. Attack after attack showed William getting slower and his heavy breathing betrayed his failing stamina. Dhaune on the other hand, having turned to blood magic as Xana had instructed her, was none the worse for the wear.

Panting heavily, William gathered his strength for one last attack. "I… Won't let you get away with what you've done!" He lifted his sword and launched himself at her.

She was ready. Holding out her foot, Dhaune struck him in the stomach and he stumbled to a stop, coughing. She walked over as he gasped for breath standing over him and tearing the sword from his hands.

She called upon his blood and forced him to kneel before her. "It is such a shame that you're so hotheaded. I was hoping we could resolve this civilly; that we could come to an agreement with mutual benefits."

He laughed bitterly, though he was barely able to look at her. "I would never deal with a witch like you or Xana!"

"And so you would deny your people because of principle? That's a pity. Even Aelita would change sides if she thought it would help the People. But you? No… you're far too shortsighted for such strategies." She laughed. "Though I have to wonder why you would express your displeasure with Lyoko's war strategy if you intended to remain at her side."

William spat. "I have done no such thing!"

Dhaune turned to face the wall of the alley. "No? Wasn't it you who said that you felt like you were on the wrong side of a losing battle?"

His eyes widened. "How could you possibly…"

"The Matron has eyes everywhere. I am the ears to those eyes." Dhaune explained cryptically. She turned and folded her arms behind her back. "So, is that your final answer? You deny yourself a title, a pedestal and glory?"

"I will not work for Xana!"

She shook her head. "What a bother. It appears that we must do this the hard way."

* * *

It was late as the exhausted heroes gathered together, the streets of the city bathed in the flickering red and yellow hues of the many buildings that still burned after the battle. The constructs for the most part had been defeated or fled, and citizens had stopped fleeing the city. Ulrich, Odd and Aelita had joined Laura at the gate, and Aelita brought along Rorkal and the aravel. Jeremie and Yumi approached, clothes slightly singed and covered in soot but otherwise unharmed. Laura ran to Jeremie and embraced him, though she felt Aelita's eyes on her. "Are you alright?" The Wise Man asked his fiancée, and when she nodded, he looked to the others, who agreed that they were unharmed.

Laura looked at him in confusion. "Where is William? Is he not with you?" She asked.

Yumi shook her head. "No, we thought he was here, protecting you."

The Fair looked to the Colonist. "No, Dhaune appeared, and he gave chase. I thought maybe you had run into him. He is far more skilled a fighter than Dhaune is."

Jeremie shook his head. "I didn't see him. I'll find out where he is." He closed his eyes and tried to locate William. A confused look spread across his face, creating an aura of worry through the group. Two minutes passed, and Jeremie opened his eyes, defeat obvious in them. "No. I couldn't find him."

Aelita approached cautiously, not wanting to get too close to Laura. "That doesn't mean anything. Maybe William pushed you out. I can do it; so can the others, I'm sure."

Jeremie shook his head. "Even when you pushed me out, I could still get an idea of where you were—a glimpse, a thought, something. I can't even contact William, let alone give him enough time to sever the connection."

Laura's eyes filled with tears. "What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry, Laura. William is dead," Jeremie announced.

The Heroes searched the city for an hour, splitting up to cover more ground. There was no sign of William's corpse, not even a burned one that could be identified as drow. Aelita did find Eleanor, crushed under a fallen tree with her eyes still open. She'd closed those eyes, but otherwise offered no service.

After unsuccessfully searching for a body, Laura begged that Jeremie search for him again, though once more this proved fruitless. They prepared a small memorial for the Vanguard, placing two gold coins at the base. At Yumi's request, Aelita sang the dirge for a fallen elf.

"_Hahren na melana salin_

_Emma ir abelas_

_Souver'inan isala hamin_

_Vhenan him dor'felas_

_In uthenera na revas_

_Vir sulahn'nehn_

_Vir dirthera_

_Vir samahl la numin_

_Vir lath sa'vunin._"

After she'd finished her song, the teenagers were on the road again, though grief and realization filled their hearts like cement.


	20. Autumn 5

_Episode 5: Catfight!_

15th of Parvulis

He felt pain; pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before, even when fighting Xana's constructs. He felt a whip being cracked against his back, and he felt himself being stretched on a rack. He felt hot iron burning his flesh, and chains pulling him back as he tried to reach the door. His vision blurred and it raced through a house that appeared to have been built inside of a cave, but not a cave—he could see the moon shining in the blue-black sky. Perhaps he was inside of an abandoned quarry? But there, resting on the edge was a woman. She had skin like the snow, and fingers that were clawed, like a monster's. Her hair was fair, and when she turned, her eyes were on fire with an orange glow.

Jeremie sat up with a jolt, his breathing heavy and his body covered in sweat. What had he seen? His back stung and his joints held traces of phantom pain. This wasn't an ordinary dream—no, this was a vision, like the one about Capital Lyoko. He held his head in his hand, trying to imagine where the vision had brought him. An abandoned quarry? That could only be in the mountain sector of Lyoko, and while they were getting closer to that part of Lyoko, they wouldn't reach it for several weeks.

He crawled out of his tent and noticed Aelita poking at the fire. The sun hadn't yet dawned, and while the sky had taken on a pearly blue color, he could still see the stars. He watched her face, expecting to see the happy-go-lucky girl he'd sat with under the vhenadahl, but her face remained stoic. She seemed to notice his presence, as she looked at him briefly. "Trouble sleeping?" She asked.

Jeremie sat adjacent from her, though he would not sit too close. The others would wake soon, and he didn't want Laura to get the wrong idea. "I had a vision. I'm not certain what it means, but whatever it is, it wasn't pleasant."

Aelita nodded. "I'm plagued by nightmares too. Curse of the blood, I guess." The second part of her statement was quiet so as not to upset him or cause an argument. She and Laura argued enough for all of them. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The Wise Man considered it, but he shook his head. "No, not really; I'm sure it was nothing." He was lying, and he knew that she could tell. Regardless, she did not press the issue. Jeremie opened up the book written in elven runes, and after taking to heart the words Aelita had used, he was able to hear them on the pages, and they spoke to him. He transcribed them phonetically to learn the runes, and thus on his own had begun to translate the book. As he turned the page, he came across the dried hyacinth that Aelita had given to him. He picked it up, but it deteriorated at his touch.

He sighed, and she glanced at him briefly before turning her eyes to the sky. She was still certain in their prophecy, but she was no longer confident in herself. She had come to terms with Jeremie's engagement, finally, though she still resented both of them for it. But she knew that the Wise Man would come to his senses eventually, though she feared it would be too late when he did. She would wait for him, of course, but what if it was too late? Could she split up a marriage, likely with children? Or could she resign herself to being his mistress? It sounded so degrading—she'd rather be a wife than a mistress. She noticed that Jeremie was watching her.

Oh, shit. Oh, _shit._ Had he heard that? Aelita had forgotten he was telepathic! She hadn't felt him enter her mind. What if he had gotten better at it, or what if she had been too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice? She stared at him with wide eyes. He furrowed his brows and asked, "Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?"

"Oh! I… was just…" She couldn't think of anything, so she looked back into the fire and tried to hide her embarrassment.

An hour later, the sun had risen, the others woke up, and Aelita started breakfast. Laura criticized her for not starting it earlier, and Aelita told her to go to a place that wasn't so nice. Yumi stepped between the two before they could argue, and the teens ate in silence. Then, they packed up the aravel and started down the road, though it wasn't long before things got stirred up again.

"Now, Aelita," Laura said in a voice so sickly sweet it made Aelita's teeth hurt, "when we reach this next city, you can't go around using your little witch tricks. We're in enough trouble as it is."

Aelita huffed, as if she was severely put out. "Oh, darn! And here I was thinking I'd sacrifice the first virgin I came across! I had heard that Odd could help me find one!"

Odd scoffed. "Of course I could! Don't ask me to find the cheese market, though."

The Outcast laughed, and she added sarcastically, "Oh, but since you have forbidden it, my beautiful princess, I cannot proceed with my evil deeds!" She feigned enlightenment. "Why, I have seen the error of my ways though your wise and foresighted policy! Forgive me, dear lady, for I have sinned!"

Laura sighed loudly. "Don't you have something unholy to do?"

Aelita crossed her arms and glared at her. "Not until four,"

Ulrich could barely walk for laughing. He had, in these past few days, stopped calling Laura by her title. This, while it bothered Jeremie, didn't seem to bother the princess. What bothered her was the rudeness with which he used her given name. It was as if Ulrich had forgotten he was a citizen of Lyoko and believed that he could address her any way that he pleased. Ulrich had not given any reason for his sudden change in behavior, but they all believed it was in protest to her treatment of Aelita.

Yumi looked at Jeremie, who only shook his head. She motioned to the other girls, but he looked at her in confusion. What did she expect him to do? As far as half of the group was convinced, including to a small extent himself, the increased tension was his fault, and his intervention would only make things worse.

* * *

As the sun began to set in the distance, Laura and Aelita were arguing. Again. The others tried their best to set up camp, though it was difficult to work with their voices almost causing the very earth to quake in fear. "You're a liar and a witch! How do you live with yourself?" Laura shouted as the magician girls closed the distance between them.

Aelita scrunched up her nose. "Rather a liar and a witch than a whore!" She shouted, and that was the last of understandable conversation for a long time. Eventually, Laura threw up her hands and removed herself from the conversation, as her arms were shaking and it was clear that she was a moment away from losing her temper. Aelita cast a burning glare into her back for a moment then looked briefly around camp and turned to walk off in the opposite direction.

With camp set up and supper on the fire, Odd dared to ask a question of Aelita that no one else had the guts to. "Aelita, why haven't you spoken of your time at Arak-Muna?"

She glared at him, but she took a deep breath in an attempt to handle the situation diplomatically. "It isn't a time of my life that I look on fondly."

Odd seemed to agree with that. "I understand, but don't you think that it's important that we know? What if it comes up?"

"If it comes up, then I will tell you." She replied sharply. In a softer tone, she added, "I appreciate your concern but I'm not ready to speak about it."

Laura shook her head. "Meaning that you need more time to come up with a good lie."

Aelita suddenly sat up straighter and spun her head around to glare at Laura. "Excuse me?" She asked, her voice dripping with deadly poison.

The Fair crossed her legs. "Well, it's just that you haven't been entirely honest with us. We have no way of knowing that you really spent time in Arak-Muna or if you were just lying to get attention."

She scrunched her fingers into fists. "Who would lie about something like that? That's… despicable!" She shouted.

"But there is no proof that you spent any time in Arak-Muna, or any slave port for that matter. We don't know that you aren't lying." Jeremie looked to his fiancée and prepared to say something, but Aelita's sudden action called his attention.

The Outcast stood up, and for a moment, she looked like she was going to strike the Fair. "I cannot believe you would sit there and accuse me of lying about something this crucial!" She shouted. Laura had no time to respond, for Aelita had already run off into the darkness.

Laura rolled her eyes. "She runs because she knows that she is cornered."

Jeremie shook his head. "No, she wasn't lying about Arak-Muna. I've seen the scars from where she was whipped."

She eyed him suspiciously. "I hesitate to ask why you've seen any scars on her at all." She flipped her hair back. "Regardless, do you know if those where scars from whipping and not from where she called her staff? She has been known to… yank it out of her chest so I can't imagine that it doesn't leave some form of physical scar."

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Aelita doesn't really seem to experience pain when she does that. Maybe it isn't physically inside her so no physical mark can be left?"

Ulrich furrowed his brows. "I can't believe you would do something like that!" After a very loud and long argument, he demanded that Laura find Aelita and apologize. At first she refused, but after being called many names and a threat to sell her into slavery, she agreed.

Laura found Aelita sitting in a tree in the middle of a pond. When the Outcast spotted the Fair, she slammed her heel down on the branch, causing the branches below to fall into the water. "Can you come down so we can speak?" Laura shouted up at her.

"No," She shouted down.

"Then can I come up?"

"No,"

"I want to apologize!"

"No you don't!"

Laura threw her hands up and started to walk away. "I don't understand why I keep trying to talk to you! You're a dirty knife ear and that's all you'll ever be!"

She jumped when an ice shard shattered next to her feet, and she turned to face Aelita. She was standing on the branch now, and she had her fingers clawed out. She closed them on her palms, and sharp thorns obscured her from view. She reappeared in front of Laura, startling the princess and sending her back. "You think you're so high and mighty, don't you?" Aelita asked in a low, ominous voice, her face covered in dirt and blood, stained by tears. "Well, you know what, Miss Thing? Jeremie doesn't love you. He never has and he never will! Do you know why he accepted your proposal? Because he thought I had betrayed him and marrying you was an easy way of avoiding the pain!"

Laura curled up her fists. "That isn't true!"

"It is true!" Aelita shouted. "No one likes you! You're a class A bitch that we tolerate because you're a princess and apparently you're a Hero! You know, I'm beginning to wonder about the qualification of Heroism in Lyoko. I thought that you actually had to be heroic!"

"Like you know anything about being heroic, you whining coward! You risked the lives of everyone you knew to live in a fantasy world, and what did it get you? A broken family, a dead clan and the blood of your best friend to soil your hands, that's what!"

"You know nothing about what I went through to earn my freedom!"

"You didn't earn it; you stole it using the blood of others!"

Laura was forced back, falling into the water. Aelita grabbed her dagger and slit open her palm, cloaking herself in an aura of fire and summoning Erahalam from her chest. Laura jumped up and summoned a whip of fire, snapping it as she readied herself in the water.

They charged, Aelita raising the earth around Laura's feet to attempt to make her fall. Laura stumbled around them, and she snapped her whip. It ensnared Aelita's ankle, burning her skin through the chainmail. The Outcast stumbled back and stood despite the pain. She summoned the water from the pond and used it to knock Laura off of her feet again, and then she lifted the Fair up with the water and froze it.

Laura began to melt the ice and once her limbs were free enough, she spun around and melted the rest of the ice. She jumped from her high place and landed shakily on the ground, her feet pounding in pain. Aelita threw back her head and laughed. "Have you gone mad? You could never beat me!" Laura charged her, though Aelita burst into butterflies and dodged her attack. The Fair grabbed her wand and charged her again, intending to use the steel thing as a mace. Aelita dodged it in the same way, and she laughed again. "But I suppose you are welcome to try!"

Laura sent a fireball at the Outcast, which she sank into the earth to avoid. She reappeared behind Laura and stabbed her in the shoulder. The princess screamed and kicked the Outcast then limped away before healing the wound. "You little bitch!" Laura shouted.

There was a burst of white light, and Aelita screeched as if it had hurt her, even leaning against a tree to endure the pain. But as they tried to continue their magic duel, they learned their magic had been silenced. This didn't deter them; they used their magic focusers as melee weapons, Aelita's as a bo staff—which Yumi had been kind enough to give lessons on—and Laura's as a mace. The elf struck Laura's head with Murray the Skull, and Laura slammed her wand down on Aelita's shoulder. Aelita spun her staff around, as if she intended to stab Laura again, but Ulrich pulled her back. Laura attempted to use this opportunity to attack the Outcast, but Jeremie grabbed her. The two magician girls fought against the boys that held them.

"Enough of this!" Jeremie shouted as he pulled Laura back. "We're trying to defeat Xana, not kill each other!"

"But she—" Both girls began.

"ENOUGH!" Jeremie shouted again, now angrier than before. "I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it! Don't ever let me catch you two fighting again! This is not what we should be doing!"

The two girls glared at each other, and Aelita's glare intensified as Laura took Jeremie's hand, but neither of them moved to disobey the Wise Man. Odd ran up, and he sighed when he saw the fight was over. "Dammit, I missed the fight?" He asked.

Ulrich nodded and said sharply, "Yes, and you were no help at all in stopping it."

"Stop it? Who said anything about stopping it? I was going to watch. With snacks!" Ulrich rubbed his temples, walked over to his friend and proceeded to slap him. "OW!"

They headed back to camp, where Yumi paced nervously around the fire. She seemed relieved to see the girls back in one piece, though admittedly she was displeased they had fought.

Laura had first watch, so the others went to bed. She grabbed Jeremie's hand as he started to leave. "Please, can you stay with me for a while?"

"What's the matter? Are you afraid something will happen?" He asked. He paid far closer attention to Laura's prophecies now.

She shook her head, thinking back to what Aelita had said. "No, I just… don't want to be alone right now." She looked to the fire, watching the embers as they floated up and disappeared. Quietly, she said, "I don't want to hear the silence. It scares me because it screams the truth."

Jeremie studied her face, and he sat next to her. He stayed with her until it was time for Yumi to take the next sentry shift.


	21. Autumn 6

_Episode 6: Falling_

21st of Parvulis

The vision came again, but more vivid. He could smell the death that lingered in the air, and he could hear the echoes of screams that should have died long ago. He heard water boiling and whips cracking. His vision locked in on a door, and he started to walk towards it. Looking down, he saw chains wrapped around his torso, binding his arms to his sides. He pulled against them, and they began to cut into his skin. Suddenly he fell and the door opened, letting in a light that shone like a beacon. He stood and walked towards it.

The passage of light led Jeremie back to consciousness. Slowly, he sat up and held his head, taking a long moment to recover and re-orient himself. The Wise Man heard Ulrich and Odd talking, and he concluded that he'd been asleep a lot longer than he had intended. He crawled out of the tent, hearing the back end of the other boys' conversation. "I'm telling you, Aelita will totally crack first!" Odd said.

Ulrich shook his head. "No way. I'll bet you twenty silver right now that Kitten holds out a lot longer than Laura does."

Odd smiled and nodded. "You're on!" The two boys shook hands, closing some deal that Jeremie had missed.

"What are you two talking about?" Jeremie asked.

"We're betting on who will crack under the pressure of a demon first." Odd explained, "Care to place a wager?"

The Wise Man was surprised. "You're gambling about who will get possessed first? That's horrible!"

Ulrich disagreed. "It isn't gambling unless you lose."

Jeremie rolled his eyes and went about his morning routine. When the girls woke, they packed up and began their journey again. By the afternoon they reached Cheystead, a town that had begun as just a farming community until they discovered gold in the nearby mine. Many people had flocked there to make their fortune, producing a boom town.

Or at least that's what the group of heroes had expected to find as they approached. Fortunes had turned in Cheystead, it seemed, however. The town seemed almost desolate, and the fields, which should have been overflowing with crops, were decorated only with the occasional dead stalk. "The earth here is dead, and the fields are a fire hazard," Aelita said quietly as they walked into the village square.

As Jeremie entered the town hall to speak to the mayor, Laura bought a quill and paper to post a message on the board in the center of the square. As she pinned it to the board, she noticed a message written on fancy parchment. She read it in horror, and the Fair ran back to the others. "Kadic has fallen!" She exclaimed, pointing to the message board. "I don't know how they got the message so fast, but Kadic fell to the drow."

Yumi covered her mouth. "That's horrible news! Now they only have to take Carthage and Lyoko is lost!"

Ulrich raised his eyebrow. "I don't think it'll be so easy to take Carthage. I've heard that the streets change every time you go outside." He half-laughed, "That's probably just an expression; nevertheless it will be a long time before Carthage falls."

Laura crossed her arms. "Still, we've got three major cities in this country and if two of them have fallen, we're much weaker. I guess we can forget going to Narza for help after this."

"Or Heartwood," Aelita added quietly. There was a sort of sadness in her voice that didn't seem to find its roots in empathy for the humans.

Jeremie rejoined them, and Laura relayed the message to him. A flash of fear crossed his face, and he asked, "Did the message say anything about the magistrates?"

Laura shook her head. "No, but it said that many citizens had faith in the magistrates' ability to protect them and ended up dying in the battle." She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry, my love. I'm sure Patrick and his parents made it out safely."

Jeremie sighed and nodded. "I hope you're right." He looked over his shoulder and motioned towards the road. "Anyway, we should get moving. There's no reason to stay here any longer."

The others nodded and headed back towards the road. The autumn leaves crunched under their feet, dryer than they should have been, even at this time of year. A farmer sprinted towards them and shouted, "Hey, you! Princess!" Laura seemed confused, but she turned as the farmer approached her. "So this is where you've been? Your country needs you and you're just walking along without a care in the world?"

She shook her head. "No, that isn't what's going—"

"Save your excuses! If you want to do something, why don't you start by helping your people?" He crossed his arms. "Can you irrigate our farms?! It hasn't rained since the 12th of Matrinalis! Can you save our crops?! We can't even make bread! Can you put the gold back in the mine?! We don't have any source of income! Our children are starving!"

Laura bit her lip nervously. "I—I'm sorry, I can't do anything about that. The only hope we have to save your children and farms is to defeat Xana. Then it will rain again."

"What good are you, then? A princess who cannot help her people? Disgraceful!" The farmer spat before he stormed off.

Aelita looked at the Fair, and with more courtesy than either had shown in weeks, she suggested, "I can irrigate the farms, if you need me to, though it may be too late to save the crops."

Laura shook her head. "They don't want your help; they want me to do something. But I cannot help them." She held her head in her hand. "Gods, this is getting so much worse."

* * *

4th of Frumentum

Heagrove was a small town, but richer than others they had visited by far. Most of the brick buildings were covered in painted cement. A crier stood in the center of the town, shouting the news he'd heard. He ran up to the Heroes when he saw them, and he smiled. "Have you heard anything new?" The crier asked. The Heroes reported the news of Xana, and he frowned. "Yes, I've heard. You aren't the only refugees who have passed through here. We've gotten refugees from Heartwood and Falcon's Bridge."

Jeremie folded his arms over his chest. "How many?"

The town crier shrugged. "Six of one, half dozen of another. No one really… amazing." His eyes sparkled as he said, "But we got a couple of interesting characters a few days ago. They didn't say where they were from, but they said they were looking for the only remaining tomb of one of the Witches of the Wilds!"

Yumi scrunched up her nose. "The Witches of the Wilds?"

Aelita explained. "The People call them the Asha'bellanaren, the Women of Many Years. They're extremely powerful magicians, most of whom entered Uthenera just before the human invasion ended, and it is said that they can enter and return from slumber at will. I can only think of one that survived long enough to make it to Arlathan, though. Humans have found most of their tombs."

Laura returned her gaze to the crier. "Did they say why?"

He shrugged. "Not really. They mentioned some ancient tome that tells of dragon taming, though—I imagine that's what they're after. Maybe they want to tame a dragon, or maybe they think that the dragons will reward them if they return the book."

Odd laughed. "Sounds like dragons take their reading very seriously."

Yumi eyed him playfully. "Is there anything dragons don't take seriously?"

Aelita looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm sure there must be something!" She thought for a moment. "Maybe knock-knock jokes?"

Ulrich shook his head with a laugh. "You keep thinking about that, Kitten. You let me know if you come up with anything."

Jeremie looked back at the crier. "Is there any other news?"

He thought for a moment, and then snapped. "Oh, yeah! Yesterday some guy came riding through here and said that pretty much every city in Replika is free of Lyoko control!"

Laura jumped. "What?! How did they overthrow us so quickly?"

"Oh, you're the princess, aren't you? Pardon my rudeness, milady." He bowed. "The soldiers caught word of Xana, and they started marching back this way. Won't be long now before Cortex falls, and gods know that I don't want to be around there when it does." He offered one piece of advice for the princess before he left. "Be careful, milady. There are many people who seek you dead if it will further the rebellion."

There was a flash in Laura's eyes that almost looked like fear, but it might have also been a glare from the sun.

* * *

10th of Frumentum

Laura's head was pounding. She'd gotten almost no sleep over the past six days, and consequently she was on edge. Jeremie had tried to convince her to sleep, but she waved him off. It was obvious that she was losing her touch on reality—her blonde hair was unkempt, and dark circles had formed under her eyes. The day before she'd attacked Ulrich when he had tried to speak to her, and she was embarrassed to learn what she had done as well as extremely distressed.

It didn't help when Aelita had said that she needed to sleep, or the next time she slept the spirits would tempt her and she would accept far too easily. Laura had responded by shouting nonsense at her, and she was so out of touch that the Outcast had begun to wonder if a spirit of madness hadn't already taken her.

Wandering into the next town, Laura was asked to remain outside with the aravel, as they didn't want to alarm anyone by showing them their princess taken by madness. She tried to focus by reading the books Jeremie kept inside the aravel, but her mind wandered, making the letters dance across the pages. Laura tried to cast simple spells, but her exhaustion caused the fire to either flicker out or burn uncontrollably. For the sake of herself and the aravel, she collapsed on one of the beds inside the aravel, and she closed her eyes.

What felt like only moments later, but more likely was hours, Laura was yanked off of the bed and thrown against the back wall of the aravel. She held her face in her hand, noticing the blood that had begun to run from her eyebrow.

Laura stood and turned, face to face with a man nearly a head taller than her dressed in leather dyed black and purple. "Who are you?" She demanded, summoning a fire between her hands.

"I am your death!" The man shouted, revealing a pair of ebony daggers. Laura screamed and sent fire at the assassin, distracting him enough so she could slide between his legs and out of the aravel.

She kept running into the village, shouting for the other Heroes as the assassin chased her. She turned and threw fire at him, setting the grass next to him on fire, and she tripped over an elevated sidewalk. She crawled away, using a nearby tree to pull herself off the ground. He threw a dagger at her, slicing her leg and startling her back onto the ground. The assassin stalked up to her, and he prepared to slash at the princess. She screamed, covering her face with her arms.

A kunai distracted the assassin, lodging itself in the tree next to his head. "Damn, I missed! That would've been a good shot, too." Yumi said, revealing herself to be hiding behind a column.

Ulrich charged out from an alley, engaging the assassin. "If you want to kill any one of us, you have to go through all of us!" He declared.

The assassin looked to over his new adversaries, and he then looked back down to the princess. He ignored the other two Heroes and walked closer to her. Aelita materialized behind the assassin and slapped him with Murray the Skull. He cringed and held the back of his head, giving Jeremie enough time to grab his fiancée and pull her out of harm's way.

The assassin charged after the Wise Man, and Odd slid down the slanted roof of a nearby building, pointing his arrow at the assassin. He fired it, pinning his foot to the earth. Yumi threw her Tessen fan, knocking the assassin forward onto his hands and knees. Ulrich sprinted over to him, stabbing him in his back. The Mercenary pushed against the assassin's back with his foot to remove the katanna.

The Heroes gathered together, and Odd kicked the assassin over. "I think that you had better start talking." Jeremie said flatly as Laura stood shakily and stood beside him. "Who hired you to kill Laura?"

The assassin had death written on his face. "I will say nothing," He wheezed, and he grabbed one of his daggers. Slowly, he brought it against his own throat.

Yumi rolled her eyes. "Assassins are always so melodramatic. I mean, can't they just give up if they fail at their job? Our lives would be so much simpler." She kneeled and went through his bags and armor. "Yeah, here we go; a description of Laura and 'her companions.' I guess they did their homework."

Yumi handed the note to Jeremie, who pointed to a symbol at the bottom. "Look, this is the symbol for Replika, only it's red and black, not blue." Jeremie looked up at the others. "I'm guessing the rebels are trying to end the monarchy."

Laura started shaking. "Holy gods, they want me dead! What do we do? Oh, Minerva help us!"

Jeremie folded the note up and placed it in his mother's book bag. "I'll hold onto this for safekeeping. When the war is over and Lyoko re-conquers Replika, the rebels will be charged for treason as well as conspiracy." He turned his attention to Laura. "You are going to get sleep. You're no help if you're half-asleep and you may kill one of us thinking they're an assassin." He turned back to the other Heroes. "And we're all going to be extra careful from now on. No one mentions Laura is a princess unless absolutely necessary."

Odd sighed. "I thought we were already being extra careful? Does this mean we have to be extra, extra careful?"

Jeremie glared at the Scout. "This is no time for your jokes, Odd. If we don't act fast, Lyoko will fall apart at its seams." Aelita waited for Laura to insult her, but the Fair said nothing, obviously too rattled to say much of anything.

Laura held her elbows, trying to calm her tremors. "Ugh, this doesn't seem real. I feel like if I close my eyes, I'll wake up back at the castle and everything will be right again."

Ulrich gestured his head in agreement. "I never thought I'd say it, but I really miss being home."

"I miss my parents, and Hiroki…" Yumi said, and she looked at her feet. "…and William."

"This is the furthest away from home I've ever been," Odd mentioned quietly, as if it were embarrassing.

"I should've listened to my father… I never believed him." Jeremie muttered, and he looked over at Aelita, who had taken a great and sudden interest in her toes. He looked away, and then back to the group. "Anyway, we should keep moving."

As the Heroes began to walk away, Aelita caught Jeremie's shoulder. He turned to face her, and she waited until Laura was out of earshot. "We're going to have to talk sometime,"

Jeremie shook his head. "What is there to talk about?"

She seemed flustered for a moment. "About everything that's been going on lately! We have to talk about you, and me, and Laura, and… and the blood magic."

He looked like he was about to say something sharp, but he seemed to think better of it and instead said, "I'm not sure this is a conversation we should have right now. There is too much for us to do to wallow in self-pity."

Jeremie hesitated, but Laura called his name and he ran after her. Aelita watched him go, cursing herself for not being more aggressive. She started to walk after the others when a whisper in the shadows beckoned her closer. Aelita looked questioningly into the darkness, and she backed away from it. "No, come closer," A voice echoed. "I don't want to hurt you. I need your help."

"If you want my help, come out of the shadows and say it to my face." Aelita said, crossing her arms.

A boy with spikey brown hair dressed in green magician robes stepped out of the darkness. Aelita recognized his robes as those given to magicians training in Lyoko's military, and for a moment she questioned why a battlemage would be alone in the middle of a war. "My name is Theo. I need someone with knowledge of elven runes to save my comrades-in-arms."


	22. Autumn 7

_Episode 7: Theo and the Asha'bellanar_

10th of Frumentum

"Why do you need someone with knowledge of elven runes to save your comrades? It seems to me that you could do most of the work yourself. You're a military grade magician, after all." Aelita said. There was something strange about Theo, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"My comrades and I were excavating an elven ruin—strictly educational, not raiding—and we came across these… letters that were unfamiliar to us. One of our younger members tried to touch them and activated a trap which trapped my comrades behind and under rocks. I only managed to escape because I fled using magic." Theo explained. "However, my military training didn't teach me how to move rocks. The elves teach it, don't they? I don't know if you yourself can but you must be travelling with your clan. Maybe your leader can help me?"

"No, I'm not travelling with my clan, but I am a magician trained in the ancient ways and I can move the rocks." She narrowed her eyes. "Why were shemlen excavating an elven ruin? Humans don't really care all that much about us, do they?"

"We were looking for an ancient tome belonging to the dragons. If it pleases you, we will leave everything else in peace. We only want the book."

Aelita studied his eyes, taking a step forward to him to look deep into his eyes. Could she trust this shemlen? Would he truly leave elvhen artifacts in peace? There was a glimmer in his eye, though it wasn't malevolent. "Very well. I believe you, for now." She took a step back. "You probably won't be able to go very far in, depending on the type of ruin you're studying. We were notorious for preparing for tomb raiders. The doors are likely closed through rites and seals, and unless you can pass through the rites you won't be able to enter the inner sanctum. That's likely where you'll find your book."

Theo blinked. "I wasn't… can you help us enter the inner sanctum?"

"What kind of ruin is it?"

"A… memorial or a grave of some sort, I think."

Aelita turned away to think. "If that is the kind of ruin that you think it is, there will likely be a water alter and a blood seal before the actual door that opens to the touch of one who is recognized. But unfortunately there is no way for me to know what kind of blood we need until we actually see the symbol at the blood seal."

"A… blood seal? Is someone going to have to die?" Theo asked nervously.

Aelita seemed surprised. "No! No. We just need a sample of blood. If we're lucky, it'll only take blood in general, and I can just use my own."

She was about to go into more detail on the seals as Ulrich approached her. "What are you still doing here? Captain Bossyboots said that its time to leave."

"Ulrich, this is Theo. He asked me to help him rescue his companions and retrieve a book." Aelita introduced the battlemage.

Ulrich looked at Theo and back to the Outcast. "Kitten, you and I are going to have to have a talk about the trustworthiness of people you meet in the shadows."

She laughed. "They've helped me before!"

Ulrich looked back to Theo. A light went off in his head. "Wait, you look familiar. Have we met?"

Theo cocked his head to the side. "Perhaps. Did you serve in the military? Or did you sail the ships to the northern colonies?" He asked.

He pondered this. "Maybe. That could be it…" He didn't sound too sure, but he dropped it. "So, what is it that you're looking for?"

The battlemage explained it again to the Mercenary, and then turned to Aelita. "Before my comrades were trapped, we saw a mural. If what you're telling me is true, I think that they might have been clues on opening the path. The one that caught my eye was—well, it was an eye. It was crossed out and there was faded paint around it that might have been red. But there were others—there was a waterfall and an ornate jug, as well as a lot of writing."

Aelita's eyes lit up and she turned to Ulrich. "That's it! Ulrich, you can open the blood seal!" When he seemed confused, she elaborated. "The crossed-out eye is the elvhen symbol for the Blind! This Asha'bellanar was likely a healer, and after so long entombed she was likely worried about spirits when she awoke. Using the blood of one of the Blind would eliminate the fear of falling to a spirit."

"I know that I'm one of the Blind, but are you sure that this is wise?" Ulrich asked. "I know that this Asha'bellanar is important to your culture, but if Jeremie finds out—"

"Jeremie doesn't need to know, and if we're fast he may barely notice we're gone. You know how he is, lethallin." She waved him off before pressing her hands together and begging, "Please? You're the only Blind person that I know and the only person in general that I can trust with this!"

Ulrich sighed, "Fine, fine, fine." He looked to Theo. "How long will this take?"

Theo shook his head and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Not too long. The ruin is only a half hour that way and with your help we should be in and out in less than fifteen minutes!"

Ulrich looked at Aelita, who shrugged with a smile. Together they turned and Theo who led them into the forest. As they were walking, Theo was talking about his comrades—he was going on and on about them, suggesting they'd been through a lot together. All the while Ulrich listened, trying to figure out why Theo seemed familiar. The battlemage spoke in a tone that suggested he was of higher birth, perhaps a younger son seeking a title of his own. This wasn't an uncommon endeavor. He also walked with a limp—though Theo hadn't mentioned it, it was likely he was injured in the collapse. All signs pointed towards soldier, but Theo just seemed… strange.

The entrance to the tomb had been forced open, the scratches on the door suggesting some animal, but no wild beast was large or powerful enough to create that kind of damage spare a dragon. However, the space was not large enough to accommodate a dragon nor would a dragon have used its claws to open the tomb—fire would have been far more effective. Aelita examined the markings, trying to make out symbols carved into the cherry wood panels. Weather and violence had made the patterns and symbols almost unrecognizable.

Theo pointed at the rock pile blocking the view of the rest of the tomb. "I was the only one who managed to escape. The others are trapped on the other side." He said, motioning for Aelita to clear the rubble. She held her hands out and pulled back, dislocating some of the piled rocks, causing them to tumble down. She repeated the motion two more times, creating a hole large enough for people to crawl through. Theo climbed up the rocks, cutting his palm in his haste. The battlemage slid down the other side, relieved to find four of his friends had survived. The others had been crushed in the collapse. There was a pile of wood near the end of the corridor, and it seemed that the soldiers had begun preparing coffins for their dead.

When the two Heroes joined Theo on the other side of the rock pile, Ulrich noticed similar markings on their bodies as the ones on the door. When he questioned this and the origins of the fallen soldiers, Theo brushed him off almost diplomatically. Aelita pointed at the mural. "Is this the mural you were talking about?" Theo nodded, and Aelita studied it. She closed her eyes and listened to the humming of the runes, deciphering their translations. Next, she walked over to the end of the corridor, examining the paintings and carvings before tracing the seam in the wall. She summoned water to clean the panel, and then she motioned for Ulrich to walk over to her. "This is when we need a sample of your blood. Here, give me your hand. I promise this won't hurt any more than it has to."

Ulrich gave her his hand, and she swiftly brought her dagger across his palm. He jerked it back in pain, his fingers curled around the wound. "Ir abelas! Oh, I'm so sorry!" She apologized. He shook his head with a smile, and he rubbed his palm nervously across the panel that she'd cleaned. The stone shook for a moment before opening, but it opened, revealing an untouched elven chantry behind it.

The room was brightly lit, though there were no lamps or skylights for it to be natural light. In the center of the room was a waterfall, filling the room with a cool mist. Behind the waterfall was a tall stone door, the only dark part of the room blending in with the light beauty of the chantry. Aelita drew a sharp breath in and held it, her eyes wide and sparkling as a smile spread across her face.

But before she could move, she leaned against the wall as the blade of Erahalam pierced her chest. The staff pulled itself out of the Outcast, soaring away from the chantry opening and through the hole in the rocks.

"Are you alright?" Ulrich asked, "That looked painful." He added while sending a warning look towards the soldiers. Theo motioned for his comrades to be still.

Aelita smiled and stood straight. "Murray hates old places. He'll wait outside for us, no doubt." Ulrich looked at her questioningly, but she smiled wider with a shrug and entered the chantry.

* * *

Yumi paced back and forth nervously, and Jeremie nonchalantly asked her to stop before she wore a grove into the earth. "Where are they? They should've been back half an hour ago, if that!" She worried aloud, holding her mouth in her hand. Her fingers were twitching, and she'd pulled back her dark hair to keep it from interrupting her train of thought.

Odd looked at Jeremie. "Does this feel very familiar to you?"

Jeremie looked at him without humor in his eyes. "That's not funny."

Laura held her head in her hand. "You're giving off an aura of distress that is making me freak out. Could you stop?" She asked flatly.

Yumi crossed her arms. "Ulrich and Aelita are missing. Why aren't you worried?" She demanded. "They could be lost or dead or gods know what else!"

"I worry all the time, but Yumi, it has only been half an hour!" Jeremie said loudly. "We left them in town. Where would they go?"

Yumi was about to storm closer to him when something struck the back of her head. She rubbed it and turned. Erahalam levitated behind her, and she looked at it in confusion. She tried to grab it, but it flew out of her reach. "Murray?" Odd said, standing to grab it. The staff dodged his touch too, and suddenly the teenagers were all trying to grab the staff, even Laura. It was almost like a game; there was laughter and friendly encouragement. It was Jeremie who finally grabbed the staff, and suddenly the game was over.

The staff yanked him across camp, what had been playful teasing became suddenly violent. Laura rushed over to her fiancée and held his waist as they both tried to keep the staff from pulling the Wise Man away from camp. Jeremie tried to let go but his fingers felt as if they'd been welded to the wood. As the pulling grew stronger, Yumi grabbed Laura, and Odd grabbed Yumi.

The staff overpowered all four humans, locking them in place as it did Jeremie and beginning a violent journey through the forest. Erahalam picked up speed, its maneuvers causing the chain of people to occasionally smash into trees as it carried the foursome to its destination. When the staff arrived it released its unwilling passengers then stopped levitating, dropping to the ground just in front of them and rolling into the elven ruin. The group picked itself up, flexing sore muscles and checking what were sure to be new bruises. Jeremie spotted the staff, walked over to it and picked it up. He tied it to the strap on his mother's book bag and motioned to the others. "I guess we're supposed to go inside."

* * *

Aelita basked like an animal in the white light that seemed to come from nowhere. She twirled in the light, dust particles spinning around her feet as she danced. For a moment, Ulrich thought those specks were red, like his baby sister was dancing not in light but in blood. He scolded himself for such an image. Theo cleared his throat, pulling the Mercenary back to reality. "I see that you're having fun, Aelita, but we have a job to do."

She turned and smiled at him. "Oh! Of course. Ir abelas," She replied before gliding over to the waterfall in the center of the room. Aelita waded into the pool that had collected but never seemed to overflow until she added her weight to it. She grabbed the earthen pot sunken at the bottom of the pool. The Outcast examined the archaic designs painted and carved into it. How long had it been submerged? How had those patterns not faded in that time? She shook her head and filled the pot with water.

While Theo, his soldiers, and Ulrich stood and watched, Aelita carried the pot carefully to a wooden altar behind the waterfall. Once there, she placed it on the center of the altar, and then observed the wooden panels pressed into the altar. She took a few steps back and mimicked the position shown on the panels. Aelita pressed her forehead against the back of her hands, and she knelt with her head and hands against the floor. She muttered several stanzas from an ancient elven poem until she felt an aura of approval around her.

She stood and walked around the altar, nodding to Ulrich before she pressed her hand against the stone door. A white light illuminated the patterns carved into it and the door opened, revealing the inner sanctum. The coffin sat on an elevated platform in the center of the room, the stairs visible and located on the other side. Aelita pressed her hands together in excitement and Ulrich walked up to gawk with her.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Aelita screamed, falling to her knees. The four melee soldiers took advantage of Ulrich's distraction and bound him, separating him from his weapon. The soldiers bound Aelita as well, and the Heroes watched as a man appeared out of the mist.

It was Thomas Vincent. He didn't carry the typical sword distributed to the magistrates, however—his weapon was curved like those the dark elves carried, and the owl embroidered on his chest had been painted over with the symbol of House Kenval. "Well, well, well. Look who you've found?" T.V said, glancing over to the soldiers. "You've done well. These two are wanted by the Matron Mother."

Ulrich scrunched up his nose in anger. "You're working with T.V?" He shouted at Theo.

Theo only laughed, looking down at his feet. He glanced up at them, still laughing. His eyes were glowing like fire, the mark of a possessed magician. This surprised the Heroes—Theo had shown no outward sign of possession, but now it was obvious. T.V walked over to Aelita and grabbed her chin. "I recognize your face. You're the bitch-born changeling who ruined everything. I'll enjoy dragging your corpse back to Xana."

Aelita spit in his face. "You won't ever get the pleasure because I will destroy you for what you did to Edna!"

T.V wiped his face in disgust, and he shook his head. "We should keep them alive until we have the tome." He commanded his lackeys. "We don't know if we'll face more tests." He added. He motioned for Theo to go back to the entrance. "Besides, it will be all the more sweet to kill them knowing they helped further the cause for the drow."

Aelita and Ulrich looked shamefully at one another, fear in their eyes and despair in their hearts.

* * *

Odd climbed over the rocks first, but he stopped when he observed a boy with spikey brown hair standing in the center of the corridor. The other Heroes joined him, the last of which was Laura. She looked closer at the boy and she recognized him. "Theo…? Is it really you?"

Theo looked at Laura. "Laura? What are you doing here?"

She looked away. "It's a long story," She muttered. "You disappeared two years ago. Your mother was worried sick about you! Is this where you've been hiding?"

Jeremie looked at his fiancée. "I'll take it that you know him?"

Laura looked back at him. "He's my cousin. We discovered our magic together, around the same time. While I dedicated my studies to healing and prophecy, Theo thought it would be a good idea to blow things up for a living." She crossed her arms. "I hope you have a good reason for hiding in a savage's cave rather than helping your country like you are sworn to do."

Theo threw back his head and laughed. "My country? My country has fallen and I have chosen the winning side. As will you. As will you all!" He looked down and began to change. He began to swell up and his teeth began to stick out in all directions. He resembled the man who had ambushed them outside of Kadic, but more frighteningly—he still resembled who he had been in sanity.

The Heroes prepared for battle as the possessed Theo charged them. Odd rushed to the top of the rock pile and fired arrows in quick succession, Yumi struck at his weak points with her fans and her staff, Jeremie distracted the monster from the others and Laura provided fire and support when needed. Theo knocked the shield from Jeremie's arms and sliced at his exposed arm. Laura used a controlled fireball to knock her cousin against the rock pile. Odd slid down the pile and fired an arrow that wedged between the crevasses, and Yumi threw her fans to slice at Theo's throat.

Jeremie stood, and Laura healed the wound. "We should keep moving. The others may be further in."

Odd stopped them. "Wait, people are coming." Yumi motioned for them to be quiet, and she slid on her mask, fading into invisibility. She drew two kunai and waited for the melee soldiers to approach her. She threw them at their necks, and then removed the mask as Odd said, "I don't hear anyone else."

The Heroes entered the chantry, and Aelita called them over to her and Ulrich quietly. "Theo is working for T.V, who is working for Xana!" Ulrich explained as Yumi began to work on freeing him from his bonds. "He's got two more lackeys in there, highly trained."

When Odd had freed Aelita, she jumped up and grabbed the earthen pot. She pushed on a tiny slab of granite that she'd 'forgotten' to mention to Theo. A small shrine rose up from the ground, made of carved white stone with elven runes decorating the base. She poured the water into the bowl on top of the shrine, and as the last drop left the jug, it shattered in her hands. The Outcast slid over to Ulrich, rubbing her fingers across the cut in his hand. She then rushed back to the shrine, dipping her stained fingertips into the cold water.

The water turned blood red, and the water drained out of the bowl. Jeremie realized too late what Aelita had done. "You're going to wake the witch! Have you gone insane?!" He shouted at her.

"No, she can help us!" Aelita shouted back. The red water followed glass veins to the coffin, and Aelita motioned for the others to watch.

The coffin's lid flew off as if pushed with great force, and a woman with long grey hair stepped out of the casket. She looked up towards the sky, decorated in black leather with mithril buttons. She looked at T.V and his lackeys, who were digging through the treasures that were rightfully hers. Her body began to glow, and the high-pitched squeal of a dragon that had been done wrong shattered the silence. The Asha'bellanar did not transform into a large dragon, but it was large enough to create a column of fire that left ash on the ceiling, and she caused the platform to quake. The Heroes heard T.V shout something, but it was drowned out by the sounds of screams.

After a few moments, there was another flash of light, and then silence. The Asha'bellanar appeared, dragging Thomas Vincent by his hair back towards the Heroes. In a crackly and exasperated voice that gradually healed, she said, "I believe that this is one of your pets, child of the invasion." She tossed a burned, bruised T.V to Laura, who back away from it. He landed only centimeters from her feet. The Asha'bellanar looked to Aelita. "Ah, and here we are! I was half convinced that the People would leave me here to rot in this place forever." The old woman shook out her hair, and it turned a yellow that rivaled the sun. Her eyes were the color of the sky after a rainstorm, and her face slowly regained youth.

Aelita curtsied, keeping her head bowed. "Andaran atish'an, Asha'bellanar," She greeted, not coming up from her curtsy until she was bid to.

"So young and bright," The Asha'bellanar said, her voice now youthful. "Do you know who I am, beyond that title?"

"I know only a little," Aelita replied shamefully.

"Much as I suspected. It seems that not much has changed since the last ones entered my tomb." She turned and mused. "The last was a very peculiar couple of elves—claimed they knew more about the things I kept in death than I did. It separated them, and caused much misery. That was… many years ago now, I think." She turned and eyed Aelita, and her attention turned to the others in the party. "I have been called many things in my lifetime. I am an Asha'bellanar, as you have seen, but that is not my only name. I have been called Junfahiilkro by the dragons, Gashkek by the orcs, Ksialaka by the spirits, Yolanda by the elves, witch by the humans…" She laughed now, "…and an old hag who talks too much by one with more intelligence than may have been wise."

The Asha'bellanar looked up at the ceiling and back to the elf in front of her. "You have done much for me, but I must ask of you another. Take this to the end of the journey. You will know what to do with it then." She handed Aelita a ribbon that had been tied around her wrist. It wriggled in Aelita's fingers, almost snake-like in its motions. "Now, it is time for me to depart, but before I go, a word of advice? There are men who struggle against destiny and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny only to have it swallow them whole. And then there are men who embrace destiny and do not show their fear.

"The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss, for it is dark and unknown, filled with hardship. But should you who stand before me chose to be men that will embrace their destiny, the abyss shall not consume a world that lives in terror." She turned as her body began to glow again. "A new day will dawn and only the strong will survive."

The Asha'bellanar transformed into not a dragon but a phoenix, fluttering its wings and soaring out of the tomb. The Heroes looked at one another. "She was… strange would be the nice way to put it, I guess." Yumi said.

Jeremie glared at Aelita. "You took a big risk waking her up. She could've been possessed."

Aelita tied the ribbon, which was light blue, around her wrist. She didn't respond to Jeremie, but rather walked closer to Laura. She kicked T.V over with her heel and forced him awake by kicking his stomach. He stared at her with fear in his eyes. She thought about what Yolanda had said, and she smiled as she questioned what kind of man T.V was. "Are you a strong man, Thomas?" She asked, "Or have you struggled and fled destiny?"

"Gods spit on you!" T.V. cursed rather than answer her question.

Aelita shook her head. "Then the die is cast and you shall commit to the flame.'" She replied, stabbing him in the gut. Laura wanted to stop her, but instead the Fair looked at her hands. Aelita grabbed T.V's forehead and used every ounce of her magic to set his blood on fire, causing the Knight Templar to shriek. His body was smoking, filling the air with the smell of burning flesh. Yumi turned away, and Odd tried to grab her shoulders. She turned and swatted at him, leaving a trail of lightning behind where her fingers pierced the air. Jeremie silenced her magic, and she screeched, resulting in dirty looks from both Ulrich and Aelita. "Why would you do that?!" She shouted, standing.

Jeremie scowled at her. "I know that you're angry, but—"

"Angry? You think that I'm ANGRY?!" Aelita roared. "This… monster killed the only people in the world who ever cared about me! Edna, Nico… everyone, even the children!"

The Wise Man took a step closer to her. "And so the best way to mourn their deaths is to set a man on fire from the inside?" He asked loudly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why shouldn't I? He did the same to Edna!" The Outcast's eyes were filling with tears.

"Do you think Edna would want this?" Jeremie asked rhetorically. "If you kill him, Aelita, you will become him!"

"Who are you to say what Edna would have wanted, shem?" Aelita shouted. She furrowed her brows, but her expression changed as she continued to speak, "My hahren… my hahren would not want this." She looked at her toes, then glared at T.V but spoke to Jeremie. "He cannot be allowed to walk away from here."

Jeremie untied Erahalam from the strap of his mother's book bag. He handed it to her, watching her fingers as they curled around it. Aelita walked over to T.V, who was still twitching from her blood magic. Aelita lifted the staff above her head and drove the blade into the Knight Templar's heart. She then forced it inside of her chest, causing it to disappear. "Let's go. There is no tome to find here."

Ulrich looked at her in shock. "Wait… that sounded suspicious. Did you… know?"

The Outcast turned and simply smiled. Innocently, she asked, "Know what?"

"Kitten… that was devious." She shook her head as if she hadn't a clue what he meant. Aelita walked out of the room, though her stride offered no light on her thoughts.

Laura shivered. "That was kind of scary. How much of this did she plan?" She tiptoed around the corpse with marked and smoking skin. "I still cannot believe Theo turned to a demon. We both swore we'd never deal with demons."

Jeremie tried to offer comfort, though he was still trying to forget what he had witnessed. "T.V. might have forced him to do it."

Laura nodded. "It isn't outside the realm of possibility. Still… what did we see here?" She rubbed her arms. "The Veil is thin but not enough for that to have been an illusion. And the witch—Yolanda or whatever her real name was—she was talking about destiny. Can she see the future too? Like the Warrior?"

Jeremie rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure that I believe in destiny, but… that was weird. It was like she knew we would be there."

Yumi turned her attention to the floor. "It seems like a lot of people know where we'll be lately."

"The way I see it," Odd said, folding his arms behind his neck, "we either follow her advice or we don't. We won't change, much. Who cares whether it is destiny or not? We're doing a damn good job at what we do."

Ulrich shook his head and followed after Aelita, who was now far from sight. "Let's just leave. I don't want to look at this place any longer."


	23. Chapter 23

_Episode 8: I Will Not Bow_

26th of Frumentum

The path ahead led out of the forest sector of Lyoko and into the mountainous sector. It lay between two cliffs, and while this road was more dangerous geographically and longer time wise according to Odd, Jeremie had deemed this the best way to travel. When asked about why he'd chosen this road, he simply said that they were dangerously close to the southern coast of Lyoko. Aelita had startled at this, and for the past few hours she had said nothing.

"Watch out for avalanches and ambushes. This is a dangerous road," Jeremie warned as the Heroes began down the path. Something malevolent hung in the air, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "I don't like this." He said quietly.

Odd smirked at the Wise Man. "'I don't like this'? That's right up there with 'what could possibly go wrong?'!" He laughed at himself, folding his arms behind his head. He heard a snap on the cliff to the right of the aravel, and he pointed up at it. "It's a trap!"

Sure enough, rocks collapsed behind them, and a small group of humans in leather armor appeared in front of them, effectively blocking any chance the Heroes had to escape. On the cliff to their left, three men appeared. Two were in leather armor like the others, but one was in thicker leather with heavy iron gauntlets and greaves. Aelita's eyes widened at the sight of him, and she hid behind the boys. Jeremie and Ulrich noticed this, and they returned their attention to the men on the cliff as the man in heavy leather spoke. "You are in possession of stolen property! Back away from the slave now and you'll be spared!"

Odd looked over his shoulder at Aelita. "I suppose they're talking about you?"

She nodded. "Slave hunters," She murmured.

Jeremie took a step forward. "Aelita is a free woman!" He shouted. The Outcast smiled, but it was gone faster than it arrived.

The man raised his right hand, and the humans around them drew their weapons. "This is your last warning! Hand over the slave now!" He shouted.

Ulrich drew his sword, and the other Heroes echoed him. "Death first!" He shouted.

The slaver archers in front of the aravel began to fire shots, and Yumi spun her bo staff to stop the arrows. Jeremie and Ulrich ran to engage the archers, Ulrich slightly behind Jeremie, as the Wise Man was using his shield to stop the arrows. Ulrich leapt out from behind Jeremie once they were close enough and stabbed the first archer. He decapitated the second after the slaver stabbed his shoulder with a steel dagger. Jeremie bashed his shield against the slaver in front of him while Ulrich stabbed him between the ribs. The Mercenary pounced upon the fourth slaver, raising his katanna above his head and stabbing him in the throat. Jeremie sliced at the fifth, holding him down until Ulrich could finish him off.

Laura and Odd took out the lesser slavers on the cliff while Yumi threw her fan at the leader. He stumbled over the edge, and Aelita used the opportunity to strike him with a boulder, sending him into the cliff on the other side. The blow likely killed him instantly. One of the lesser slaves stood, and Aelita created an icicle at the same time Laura created a fire bolt. He was sent back out of sight.

They remained ready for battle for several moments, listening and waiting for more slavers to ambush them. None arrived, and they relaxed. Laura folded her arms and asked, "Aelita, why would these slavers ambush us? It's an awful lot of effort just to recapture one slave."

Aelita laughed nervously. "It might be because I might have accidentally-on-purpose murdered a nobleman and half a dozen bouncers in my escape attempt?" She said with a nervous grin, fiddling with her fingers.

Jeremie took a in a deep breath, pushing his hair back. "We're going to need more than that."

"Well," She looked off into the distance, likely in the direction of Arak-Muna. "That's kind of a long story."

Jeremie ordered the Heroes to make camp at the top of the cliff for a high vantage point. When they were settled, he asked Aelita to begin her story.

* * *

25th of Parvulis, 5:03 Guardian

Aelita had been relying on her magic to keep her alive for a little over two months, and she was no closer to Arlathan now than she had been when she was imprisoned in the Oubliette. More frightening than that, she was overcome with the desire to lie down and die. She'd tried to starve herself, but she lacked the self-control. She'd even come face-to-face with a pack of wolves, but they ignored her.

Today, she was determined to kill herself. Aelita looked over the edge of a cliff she'd found, and she spread her arms out, feeling the wind as it tried to push her away from her cause. She fought against it, spinning around and falling back. The air forced her long hair to blow into her face, twisting around her like fire. For the first time in a long time, Aelita felt free.

Suddenly, something struck her back, knocking her off course and spinning her to face the ground. She saw what was going on—the Garden, as Edna had called it, was trying to keep her from dying. A root emerged from the cliff in an attempt to catch her, though the momentum was too great, and just slapped her off her course again. This happened more and more, the time between the strikes getting shorter until at some point two emerged at the same time.

Aelita groaned as she realized that even if she fell now, she wouldn't perish. She was only about a meter off of the ground. She sat up, her midsection hurting, though nothing seemed to be broken. She slapped the cliff's face, and the roots sank back inside. Aelita landed on her feet, and she collapsed onto the earth, staring up at the sky. Her hair was a mess now as it surrounded her, and she was sure that when she sat up, leaves and twigs would be caught in it. She covered her eyes and started to cry.

She heard people approach her, though she didn't move. "Leave me alone here to die," She said as her voice bounced up and down from her sobs.

"Oh, but that would be such a waste of elf-flesh!" One of the people around her said, feigning disappointment. Aelita shot up and looked at the people around her. They wore leather and carried serrated weapons, and on their necks were tattoos that Edna had told her marked a slave pusher. Aelita pulled up the earth to separate them, and she jumped and scurried away from him. The slavers rushed around the elevated earth, and one shouted, "She's a mage! Get her!"

Aelita turned and sent ice shards at the slavers to distract them as she attempted to transform into an owl. One of the slavers threw a chain at her, pulling her to the ground when it wrapped around her ankle. She looked at the runes on it, and discovered very quickly they were the same as the ones magistrates used. Having nothing to cut herself with, Aelita tried to bite through her own flesh, but when the slavers saw this, they wrapped chains around her wrists, tying them behind her back. They muzzled her with a scold's bridle, and when she tried to move her tongue she experienced extreme pain. "Lucky catch, eh boys?" One of the slavers said.

"A magician girl, and she's young at that." Another commented. "She'll fetch a fine price to whoever wants her."

The first man who had teased her looked at her and smiled. "I suppose we should at least do that person a courtesy by taming her first." He took a step closer, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She heard whispering, and suddenly someone was dragging her. She turned to look at them, and they threw her into a cage with three others.

The cage started moving, and Aelita examined the faces of the elves around her. All were bloody and bruised, and most were chained. She tried to force herself to wake up, as if this were some kind of nightmare. Edna had taught her about nightmares, hadn't she? But every time Aelita opened her eyes, every time she caused herself pain to attempt to wake up, she was still trapped inside her nightmare.

A few hours later, they arrived at a tall gate made of wooden pikes. One of the slavers made a bird call, and the gates opened. The slavers brought the cage to the center of the port. Aelita could see the high gate that blocked the view of the ocean, as well as the dock where ships brought in slaves from overseas. Even there, an iron gate prevented slaves from trying to swim away.

One of the slavers dragged her out of the cage and into a tiny hut. Here, a woman dressed far too nicely to be a slave removed her muzzle. She efficiently and rather gruffly removed the clothes Aelita had been wearing for the past two months—a ragged white shirt and long blue skirt—Leaving her shivering and feeling terribly vulnerable as she pushed her onto a stool. The woman played with Aelita's hair, bouncing it in her hands. "You have beautiful hair," The woman said flatly, her accent suggesting she was a noble from Deutschland.

"Thank you," Aelita replied weakly, her voice shaky. She looked at herself in a dirty mirror adjacent to her, constantly aware of the woman's appraising eyes on her. She looked worse than she felt—she had lost weight, obvious especially in her face, and her eyes had lost their youthful glimmer. Her hair was wild, reaching her midsection and rampant with split ends. The woman appeared behind her, and she held Aelita's long hair over her head. She took a pair of scissors to it, and Aelita watched in horror as her hair fell, now not even reaching her ears. Her hands jumped up to her mouth, and the woman began to shave what little remained of Aelita's hair off with a razor. Her hair fell in clumps to the floor, and when the woman finally finished, the elf rubbed her now bare scalp.

The woman pushed Aelita off of the stool and threw a dirty tunic into her hands. "Go on. Get to work."

Aelita looked up at her in confusion. "I don't know where I'm supposed to go." She pulled the dirty tunic over her head. It prickled her skin; whatever it was made of, it irritated Aelita's skin, though nothing had really bothered her before.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Go find Mirianye! Go on!"

She pushed Aelita out of the door, and the elf looked around the slave port. Hundreds of elves worked there, and Aelita watched more than one drop dead of exhaustion. Everywhere, all the time, she heard whips snapping and screams from the poor souls they struck. Someone snapped one in her direction and shouted in a strange language she'd never heard. She scurried away from it, and she spotted a girl about a year older than her. Aelita followed this girl, and she led her to a tall elven woman whose hair had begun to grow in a mousy shade of brown. When the woman spotted Aelita, she was revealed to have eyes that were as black as night. Unlike other elven adults Aelita had met, this woman had not earned her vallaslin—Edna would have called her a "woman-child."

"Look, Emily—you've got a follower." This woman said, and the elven girl Aelita had shadowed turned. Her eyebrows were black, suggesting she had once had black hair, and her eyes were dark too. She squinted, as if it were difficult for her to see. "How old are you, sweet thing?" The woman asked, getting on Aelita's eye level.

"I'm eleven," Aelita said.

"You're eleven!" The woman repeated. "I suppose that's old enough. My name is Mirianye, and I take the pretty girls they send to me and train them to be… escorts." Her voice trailed off. "But you can call me Mamae Asha. All of my girls do. Now, sweet thing, what is your name?"

Aelita looked at her feet. "My name is Aelita." She scrunched up her nose in confusion. "What's an escort?"

Mamae Asha didn't bother to sugarcoat it. "It's a fancy word for a whore." She thought for a second. "Well, an upper class whore. But still a whore."

* * *

18th of Molioris, 5:04 Guardian

Eight months later it was Aelita's name day, and the occasion was marked by Aelita officially beginning her training with Mamae Asha. She'd watched the lessons before, though mostly she ran errands. Mamae Asha taught her songs to sing and dances to perform to grab the attention of men. At those things Aelita excelled—she enjoyed singing and dancing. There were other lessons that Aelita never properly learned.

The first of which was the actual wrapping her mind around the fact she was a slave. Aelita held onto the idea she could one day be free. "Listen, sweet thing, if you want your freedom so badly, I'll tell you what you have to do," Mamae Asha said, "You had better hope that some nobleman comes down here and thinks that you're pretty enough to push out babies. That's the only way women make it out of here free."

Aelita disagreed. "That's not freedom."

"It's the closest you'll ever get!" Mamae Asha explained. Then, in a softer tone, she added, "Think of it like this. A nobleman picks you up here. He takes you back to his mansion in some big city like Cortex or Kadic. It'll be all the fun of being married without the commitment or the stress!"

"Or the dignity," Aelita shook her head. "I don't think that's true. He bought me, and if the reason was to 'make babies,' as you say, I think that he expects some kind of commitment. And I don't know about you, but I think just being around him would stress me out."

Mamae Asha tore at her hair, or what remained of it—the slavers had cut it the month before. "You're too critical of this! Listen, I'll put it to you plainly—men will escape this by death. But women are lucky. We can escape through babies."

"I don't think that's true!"

"The humans want more humans! If your children have human fathers, they will be human!"

"You say 'fathers' like there will be more than one."

"I'm being realistic."

"Maybe so, but I know that I'm meant for more than this. I want my freedom!" Aelita said. She stood and looked outside at the stars. "I want to go to Arlathan. I want to be with the People. I want to be free. I will be free!"

Mamae Asha walked over to Aelita and gently took her shoulders. She sat down with the child and said quietly, "Sweet thing, I know that you want this unattainable thing that exists inside your head, this thing you call freedom but child, you cannot have it!" She grabbed Aelita's hands. "Even if you do manage to escape, even if you do make it to Arlathan, do you think you'll ever be truly free? This place destroys people, Aelita. That destruction will follow you for the rest of your life."

"The People have learned to live with much sorrow," Aelita said. "Edna taught me suledin; endure."

"You must endure, obviously. You'll die otherwise. And trust me, sweet thing; you don't want to die around here." Mamae Asha pulled Aelita closer, "But you cannot escape either, nor can you forget."

* * *

28th of Cassus

It was the dead of winter, and Aelita was convinced that she would freeze. She'd never been this cold before—not when she'd spent nights alone in the Scarwood Forest, or when she'd been trapped in the Oubliette. This winter seemed colder than the last.

Her fingers were numb, and she'd been tasked to carry alternate goods to the caravans for some merchants who were headed north. She was frail now, her bones showing in many places, and if not for Mamae Asha's intervention, death would likely be written on her face. She tripped over her own feet, dropping the goods she carried, breaking something small and ugly. The Overseer shouted at her, and she could only make herself as tiny as she could. He dragged her away from the line and into a tent.

The Overseer ordered her to remove her tunic, and when she had, he tied her binds to chains against the wall. He grabbed a whip that lay on the table. He used it to strike her. With every strike she cried out, though after she would count it, as she had been taught. She focused on the number, knowing if she lost the count he would start over. Mamae Asha appeared what felt like hours later, though likely it was only a few minutes. She gave the message to the Overseer, and then when he left, she grabbed a damp rag and walked over to Aelita. "How can it be that someone who is so graceful when she dances be so clumsy when she works?" She teased lightly, though she stopped when Aelita cried out in pain. Clearly she was not in the mood. "Child, I keep telling you that you don't live in a fantasy world. This is real. You have to accept it. This will keep happening until you do." Mamae Asha began to wipe the blood off of Aelita's back. The water was cold, and Aelita cringed. She arched her back and took a breath in, and the blood was absorbed by the wounds. Mamae Asha grabbed her shoulders and shook her, breaking her concentration and causing the wounds to open up slightly more. "Aelita, no! If they see you using that kind of magic they'll kill you!"

"Death would be preferable to this," Aelita cried, looking up at the sky. "If you won't let them kill me, and you won't let nature take me, then why don't you do something useful for once in your life and end me now?!"

"Death is not the answer!" Mamae Asha said, grabbing Aelita's chin. "I will do what I must to keep you alive. You do what you're best at in return."

Aelita yanked her head away and looked at her knees as Mamae Asha freed her arms. "And what is that? Sing? Dance? Bring in money for the shemlen?"

"Endure," Mamae Asha said firmly. "You can be strong, sweet thing. Be brave. Be strong. Wait for the men to come, and then you can be as free as you'll ever be."

Aelita looked off into the distance. "And for a moment I actually thought that you were giving me good advice. But…" Mamae Asha took in a deep breath as markings appeared on Aelita's right arm and her cheeks. They were pink, and they seemed to glow for a moment before Aelita spoke again. "…I will endure. I will not bow."

* * *

29th of Molioris, 5:05 Guardian

The 'men' had come early. It didn't really matter—the girls had been ready for weeks. At least, the fourteen-year-olds were. Though the girl they had ignored the last time they had come seemed to be the only girl they saw. Aelita sat with the younger girls, teaching them to play the lute. Aelita had surpassed her teachers in the art, though it was clear by her expression that she was simply going through the motions and no longer enjoying the music. Mamae Asha stepped between the men and folded her arms. "She's only thirteen! She hasn't had time to complete the training!"

"It's been two years that you've had her! How long could you possibly need?" One of the men asked.

"She's just a child!" Mamae Asha protested.

The second man chuckled. "That's never stopped anyone. You know that as well as I."

"We had a deal! She needs another year!"

"If she stays here for another year, she'll die!" The first man argued. He pointed at her. "Look at her! She won't survive another winter! If she comes with us, we can put some meat back on her bones. She'll survive." When Mamae Asha hesitated, he said flatly, "Listen, Mirianye. What would you rather have? Would you rather watch your pet suffer and die or would you rather send her away where she can live far longer if she's useful?"

Mamae Asha sighed, and she called Aelita over into the hut where the fourteen-year-old girls prepared to go off with the men. Mamae Asha sat her down and explained carefully, "Aelita… you know as well as I do that you will not survive much longer if you stay here." She tried to protest, but Mamae Asha quieted her. "I don't want you to die, sweet thing. It's always sad when a young person like you dies in a place like this. Please, child, don't fight me on this. You do not want to die."

Aelita hung her head. Her hair had started to grow back in since the last time the slavers had cut it, though her scalp was still visible in some places. Mamae Asha handed Aelita clothes, a bikini-like shirt, a long blue glove to cover her vallaslin, and a skirt that wrapped around her legs. Then she slid a gold bracelet onto her arm and wrist, tied a black choker around her neck and pulled a necklace made of red and blue beads over her head.

Mamae Asha grabbed the paint off of the desk next to the stool Aelita sat on. She spun her brush in the stuff and painted her eyes and lips. Finally she dabbed a bit of perfume under her chin and held her pupil's chin in her hand. "You look beautiful."

Mamae Asha helped Aelita up, and she turned her around so she could look at herself in the mirror. Reflected there was the image of a woman where a half-grown child had stood. Aelita suddenly began to shiver as a wave of realization hit her. She looked up at her mentor and asked with desperation in her voice, "Mamae Asha, what do I do?"

What could she say? "Just be nice to the gentlemen, 'Lita. They'll be nice to you."

* * *

26th of Frumentum, 5:08 Guardian

Yumi tore at her hair. "By the gods! That's horrible advice! Horrible, horrible advice!" She looked Aelita dead in the eyes and begged, "Please tell me that you didn't listen to her!"

Odd looked over to the side. "May I just say that someone should give this woman the award for 'worst motivational speaker in the history of history'?" He said.

Aelita furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you mind? I'm trying to tell a story here!"

* * *

12th of Umbralis, 5:05 Guardian

The Hungry Gypsy was out of the way, though it was relatively close to Cayfalls, a moderately sized town in Replika. She and Emily, the girl she'd shadowed to find Mamae Asha, had both been sent there, though in the six months Aelita had been there, she'd been lucky. She was still a virgin, and the owner of the Gypsy said that no one had, so far, put a price on her that had satisfied him. She could only pray that the streak continued. Instead, she performed, which she enjoyed because she was allowed to kick the men—and the occasional woman—who tried to touch her.

Emily, on the other hand, seemed to almost enjoy this. She pressured Aelita into doing things, though for the most part, Aelita refused. So far, she couldn't tell if Emily really enjoyed her work or if it was just the excitement that enthused her.

Aelita took comfort in the fact that she was far away from Arak-Muna, and that she was no longer in danger of starving. The food was good, and though she refused to drink it, she heard that the wine made for fancy company.

But on this night, everything changed. A nobleman from Cortex named James Finson had come to celebrate something—Aelita had heard he was in the area to make some kind of a business deal, so she assumed that it had gone well—and he had noticed her while she was dancing. The usual man who entered the Gypsy could not sate the owner's greed, but Finson was a nobleman.

Aelita had finished her routine and had returned to her room. She caught her breath and fixed her make-up and her hair. It had grown in considerably, and her scalp was fully covered. She smiled as she ran her fingers through it. It would likely never be as long as it had been but having any hair at all was better than having no hair.

Her door opened, revealing Finson to be standing on the other side. Aelita was confused at first—men usually weren't usually allowed into her chambers—and all of a sudden she realized what was going on. She stood and backed against a wall. "Please, no."

Finson closed the door behind him. He walked over to her, carrying a bottle of wine. He gave it to her, and she sighed as she took it. She uncorked the bottle and poured the wine into goblets on a shelf. He wrapped his arms around her, and she shuddered at his touch. Aelita pulled away from him, and with a forced smile, she handed him the wine goblet. Finson sat on the bed and took a long swig of his wine, and Aelita noticed the dagger on his belt. If she resisted, surely he would use it to kill her—and if he were half as rich as he claimed, he could afford it—but if she were careful…

Aelita realized that he'd asked her something, and she tried to remember what he'd said. She muttered something that sounded about right, and if it had been wrong he didn't notice. Finson kept talking about himself, and Aelita began to wonder if he ever shut his mouth.

"But enough of this. You have a job to do, don't you?" Finson said, standing and approaching her. Aelita shrank next to him, trying to avoid eye contact. She tried to escape on the side with the dagger, but he moved with her, and she reconsidered her plan. "You're a skittish one, aren't you?" Finson asked, and Aelita kept eye contact as she tried to steal the dagger from his belt. Finson caught her hands and tried to guide them himself.

Aelita tore her hands away and wiggled away from him. "Um. Yes. Yes, I'm skittish. Maybe you would be better, I don't know, going home to your wife?" She said as he followed her.

"You are a delightful change from the pale slug that I married." Finson chuckled. Aelita shook her head. He grabbed her suddenly, and she struggled against him. "Stop struggling!" She refused, and she kicked to his side, trying to knock the dagger from its holster. Finson forced her onto the bed, and despite her squirming, he began to kiss her chest.

The feeling of violation was almost enough to freeze her in place and the words of Mamae Asha somehow floated into her mind. For an agonizing minute longer she endured his lips, recalling in great detail all the times she'd been whipped, all the times she'd been tired into horribly painful positions for wanting her freedom, for talking of escape. The sensation of his hands trailing along her arm, behind her back to the strings of her too small top pulled her out of her reverie. Her mind was made up; she'd escape or die trying.

Aelita grabbed the wine bottle and struck him as hard as she could with it. It shattered, and his hand flew to his head as the bleeding started. The elf honed in on his blood and used it to cut the binds that had kept her magic from flowing for two years. She revealed in the magic that now flowed freely, enjoying the power that she could feel. Finson stood angrily, and she grabbed hold of his blood to force him back down.

She could have run. In fact, she wanted to. As she sat up to run, a familiar voice echoed inside her head. It wasn't the spirit of Hunger, no; it was Murray, though his voice hadn't changed in two years. The voice told her to kill the nobleman; it told her to kill all of them for what they'd done to her. For a moment, Aelita thought that she'd gone mad, but Erahalam pierced her chest, though she hadn't seen it since she'd hidden it inside her two years ago. A familiar gleam came from the eye sockets, and she nodded.

Aelita rolled over onto him, smiling. "I guess you don't have to worry about going home to that pale slug, huh?" She mocked him, grabbing the dagger at his side. It was of fine make—the edge of the blade was pure ebony, with swirls and designs carved into it, while the actual blade was made of mithril and very, very sharp. Aelita studied the fox carved into the walnut handle before she drove the blade into Finson's gut, squeezing the blood in his throat when he tried to scream. Aelita stabbed him repeatedly, splashing blood onto her arms, chest and face.

When she was sure he was dead, she jumped off of him, wiping her mouth with her arm, though succeeding only in smearing more blood there. Finson left a large pool of blood on her floor, and Aelita stepped into it. It was warm against her toes, and in that moment, the only thing she could do was laugh.

Aelita spun around the man who had tried to have his way with her, laughing. She was free, and he was dead. She'd won. Aelita danced in his blood; caring not that blood crawled between her toes, and stopped only when one of the bouncers forced the door open. "Witch! WITCH!" The bouncer shouted, and Aelita raised the blood around her to form a ring. She grabbed Erahalam and pointed Murray the Skull at the bouncer. The blood lashed out like a sword, striking at the man's chest. The bouncer stumbled back and leaned against the back wall.

The elf threw the dagger at the bouncer, stabbing him in the throat. She walked over to him, turned the blade and pulled it out. Aelita held out her arms and transformed into an owl. A bouncer observed this and started shouting for his comrades to stop the owl. Aelita flew into the common area, where an off-duty magistrate sat along with the regular customers. One of the bouncers ordered him to silence the owl, and he complied. Aelita was forced back into her elven form, and she was falling towards the floor.

Fighting through the pain, she grabbed a beam near the ceiling and twisted to sit on it. Aelita jumped up and rolled to the side to avoid their arrows. She couldn't use her normal magic, so she sliced open her hand to use her blood. She grabbed hold of one of the bouncers, turning him against his comrades. She watched as they fought the enthralled bouncer, and then one of them turned against her again. Aelita sent a spear of blood towards him, but his arrow found her first. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the arrow out and began to treat the wound, using the entropic energy around her to heal.

Spotting an opportunity, Emily, who had hidden behind the bar with the other whores, grabbed a bottle of wine and broke it over the head of a bouncer who had been cruel to her more times than not. She looted his daggers from his body, dual wielding them as she fought against the bouncers. Emily smiled at Aelita, though there was a flash in her eyes. Had the other slave been putting up a façade? Aelita smiled back.

Aelita jumped down, having fought through the silencing. She used Erahalam to send a lightning bolt at the magistrate before slicing at the throat of a bouncer who charged her with the blade. Another one of the bouncers tried to sneak up on Emily, and she threw the dagger in her hands at him. Emily flinched, but then she smiled and forced her remaining dagger into the bouncer's gut. Aelita grabbed the forehead of a bouncer who rushed towards her, and then she pushed him away. He swelled up, and a look of pure terror spread across his face as he exploded, splattering the walls of the Gypsy with blood and killing two other bouncers. Aelita summoned Hunger and ordered him to tear apart her enthralled bouncer.

Finally, it was quiet. The patrons had fled, security was dead, and the owners were nowhere in sight. Emily and Aelita stood back to back, surveying the damage while waiting for more bouncers to attack them. "I appreciate your help," Aelita whispered.

"You know, I think this 'freedom' thing you keep talking about might be rubbing off on me." She laughed. Emily took Aelita's hand, and together they ran out, rushing away from the Hungry Gypsy. It resided on the other side of a rope bridge in the woods, and once they had crossed the bridge, Emily used her daggers to slice the rope. "This should hold them off. Come on, Aelita, let's bolt."

Emily grabbed Aelita's hand again, and after a bit of running, Aelita determined they were travelling north. Lyoko and Arlathan resided to the west. "Wait! Where are we going?"

"Away from the Gypsy. Where else?"

"And then where? We can't just wander, aimlessly."

"So long as we wander aimlessly away from the Gypsy, I'm happy."

Aelita looked at her toes. They were still caked in blood, though it seemed to have dried. "I'm going to try to gain entrance to Arlathan." She announced as Emily turned and walked away.

Emily stopped walking. "You'll never get in on your own. You would have to join up with a clan of wilders, and none of them frequent that part of Lyoko this time of year."

"Creator willing, the things Edna taught me will be good for something." Aelita muttered. "So I guess you aren't coming with me?"

"I'm not a wilder. I don't belong in Arlathan." Emily thought for a moment. "I think I'll head up to Cortex, at least for a while. I hear they've got the best sailors this side of Nippon." Emily smiled and turned away. "Good luck, Aelita."

Aelita smiled. "Creator watch over you, Emily."

* * *

26th of Frumentum, 5:08 Guardian

Aelita looked up, her story finished. The group was silent. Yumi moved over to Aelita's side and embraced her, and the Outcast smiled at her. Jeremie cleared his throat. "It's hard to believe all of those things happened to you. I mean, I can believe it. That's the worst part."

Ulrich blinked. "How do you stay so upbeat? I think you've got a reason to be bitter."

Aelita laughed, and she still giggled as she tried to calm herself down. "I could be less perky if you'd like." She began to speak monotonously. "The darkness of my past has seeped into my soul. The world is black and so is my heart. Every day I live is another day closer to my death. Oh, woe is me. Woe!"

Ulrich seemed uncomfortable. "No, that's okay."

She smiled at him. "I like perky better, too."

Odd crossed his arms. "I guess we should be on the lookout for people looking for you? We're only a few days away from Cayfalls, after all."

Laura sighed. "So now in addition to a witch we're travelling with a former prostitute and the murderer of a nobleman? Wonderful."

Aelita looked up at the night sky and then back to Laura. "Is that really all you got out of that story?"

"No, I also learned that elves give horrible advice." Laura said, and she smirked.

The Outcast shook her head. "Something tells me that you already held that opinion." She sighed again, and she looked off into the distance. "At least now I don't have to worry about you finding out from a different source. It feels good to finally talk about this to someone."

Aelita looked to the north, probably in the direction of Arlathan. She spoke about it often, but all of the Heroes wondered if she had ever made it there. Ulrich cleared his throat. "Anyway, it's getting late. I've got first watch tonight, so the rest of you should head off to bed." The Heroes stood and entered their respective tents, excluding Jeremie and Ulrich. "You going to sleep tonight, captain?" Ulrich asked, though his tone was disrespectful.

Jeremie ignored it, or more likely accepted it. "Probably not for a while; I don't really feel tired." They sat in silence. Jeremie watched the flickering orange and yellow flames of the fire and became lost in his thoughts. He couldn't, wouldn't show his emotions in front of everyone. But his clenched fists, slumping posture and unfocused eyes would tell all anyone wanted to know about his state. He was angry. At the men and woman who made their living off of such victimization. At his fiancée for her cold indifference to all she had suffered. At himself for… everything.

He glanced briefly at Aelita's tent and marveled at the strength she must have had to overcome that experience and to talk to them now. He shook his head sadly and his eyes trailed to Laura's tent. Would she have been able to survive that? Would he himself?

His eyes traced a path back to the ground between his boots. Letting out a sad sigh he glanced up to the stars that Aelita had so much faith in. For a moment he stared upwards into the void above, and then he returned his gaze to the earth. He recalled the date with Aelita and then the first time he'd seen the physical scars of her ordeal.

It wasn't very real then. Now however, try as he might, he couldn't stop the images. He imagined her being stripped and chained that first time. He could almost hear scream as the whip tore open her back, hear her shaking voice, choked with that pain calling out the number of her lashes through the sobs.

Tears slid down his eyes and his breath caught in his throat as he desperately tried not to openly cry. The movie in his head continued. Aelita screaming and crying as some inhuman overseer cracked his whip against her skin, demanding she start the counting over because she mumbled a number in her sobs. He got up, and all but ran for the cover of his tent. Sleep wasn't coming, but at least he could cry quietly and out of sight.


End file.
